With all the dramas currently going on in the Islamic world, the focus for a lot of Muslims living in the West is to give charity to fellow Muslims that are in war torn or natural disaster effected countries. Of course our brothers and sisters in Syria, Burma, Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, etc…need our support. But as the Prophetic Sunnah teaches us, charity should always start with those that are closest to you first and then work its way out. A Muslim community group from Sydney, Australia is doing just that this Ramadan by feeding local refugees, families in need and giving eid gifts to Muslim children in hospital. Here is their story..
“Thank YOU so much!! You and your team (Mission of Hope volunteers) were so generous with your time and all the magnificent gifts. Your team brought so much happiness to all the children, their siblings, parents and staff. We enjoyed the day immensely!”
Alhamdulillah this was the reaction of the staff at the Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick, when we began Day 1 of our Eid Gift Drive there last year. Mission of Hope (MoH) is in its 8th year of running the Eid Gift Drive. Last year the Australian Muslim community donated enough gifts to cover Westmead Children’s Hospital, Canterbury Hospital, Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, and the Muslim Foster Children BBQ.
This year, we are aiming to do more. With your support, we hope to cover gifts for the children in six other hospitals and have more volunteers visit nursing homes with gifts. Remember The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “He is not of us who does not have mercy on young children, nor honor the elderly”. (Al-Tirmidhi)
MoH in fact has numerous programs to help the disadvantaged Muslims within the Australian community. For the second year running, MoH has organized home cooked meals for every night during the month of Ramadan at Villawood Immigration Detention Centre (VIDC). There are currently 66 fasting Muslims at VIDC who are not blessed with the luxury of choosing which cuisine to eat or which restaurant to dine at. The food provided to them is very basic, making it difficult for them to enjoy the experience of breaking the fast – a privilege we take for granted too often.
Alhamdulillah with the contributions of generous individuals, families and businesses, Mission of Hope is able to provide home cooked dishes from Afghani, Persian, Middle-Eastern, South East Asian and Sub-continent regions, ranging from soups, Pakistani, Sri-Lankan and Fijian-Indian curries, tajines, salads and traditional desserts. The Detainees at VIDC are very appreciative and grateful for all the generous support they’ve received from the Australian Muslim community.
For the disadvantaged refugees outside of detention, MoH initiated the Ramadan Food Packs, now is in it’s 4th year. We have had requests for over 300 hampers for Muslim refugees in Sydney alone. Funds are desperately needed for this program. It is our responsibility to alleviate the suffering of these families during Ramadan and donate to this program.
This Sunday August 5th 2012 our annual MoH iftar will be focusing on the need for multicultural foster care. Families4Children is an innovative community initiative that seeks to raise awareness of the need to recruit foster carers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds (CALD) to provide short and long term care.
Enjoy a scrumptious meal at the Emporium Bankstown while listening to Nasheeds by Hameed Attai, speeches by current Muslim Foster Carers, DoCS, Shaykh Wissam Cherkawi and Snr Constable Danny Mikati.
If you cannot attend the Iftar we ask that you donate $50/person for a refugee and their family who will be invited to attend for free, to reduce their social isolation and allow them to enjoy iftar with the Muslim community inshaAllah.
SOURCE: muslim village.com
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