Volunteers with Islamic Relief Canada packed 140 food hampers Wednesday for community members in need.
A dozen volunteers were present at the event, which took place at the Cambridge Food Bank in downtown Cambridge.
Volunteers spent their evening working to help members of their community and connecting with one another, listening to music and talking as they packed bags of food.
Each hamper includes two bags of staple foods, totalling around 35 pounds of food per hamper, to help members of the community grappling with increasing grocery prices and cost of living.
“Right now, cost of living and food insecurity is on the rise in Canada, people are not able to maintain the standard of living they once had,” said Nada Elabbar, the tri-city coordinator for Islamic Relief Canada.. “So this is something we do to help reduce that, and hopefully we can make a difference to our neighbours.”
While the hampers are available to all, the campaign was created to provide families celebrating Ramadan with food for the month-long religious observance.
“We’re hoping to help our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters who are struggling with Ramadan preparation and trying to make that an easy transition for them,” said Elabbar. “We don’t like to turn away anyone, so hopefully we can help all community members that are going to be in need of some support this month.”
Elabbar said that, to her, the event symbolized the spirit of Ramadan; “I feel like this is a great opportunity to show the community members who maybe are not as familiar with the month of Ramadan just what this month entails,” Elabbar said. “It’s all about giving, we don’t want to leave anyone behind. It’s a month about compassion, it’s a month about patience, it’s a month about really feeling people who are struggling.”
Islamic Relief Canada operates across the country, and also supports charity work internationally.
“We are just people helping people,” said Elabbar. “Anyone can lend a helping hand and if we all join hands together we can make a true difference.”
