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UMF Hungerteam helps with baby supplies
United Muslim Foundation Hungerteam recently helped a homeless lady collect items for a newborn baby boy who was just born last week. MashaAllah there was an out pour of donations from the community; everything from diapers to a bassinet were given through kind donations received through the UMF Hungerteam.
The new mommy sent her thanks to all of those who helped!
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The Hungerteam has been keeping up its monthly feedings and has alhamdulillah had some good volunteer turnouts! The month of Ramadhan saw some new faces as people were inspired to volunteer their time to feed the less fortunate in the way of Imam Ali (as) whose death was being commemorated around the same time and who was known for being a father to the orphans and getting up in the middle of the night to take food to the hungry. Coming out to cook breakfast for others also carried more meaning in Ramadhan as people were able to feed others while themselves being hungry.
Here's what one volunteer said about her experience:
I just got back from an amazing time with UMF's Hungerteam at the Sanford Soup Kitchen. I have to confess, when I got up this morning I was kinda dragging to bake fresh M&M cookies to take with me. I wondered what it would be like when I got there. Would there be people who were hungry waiting to be fed? Would there be enough to do? Would there be too much to do? Would it be too hot? As I loaded clothes to donate into my trunk and put the cookies into the back seat of my car I made a mental note: 'Do not forget the cookies'. As I drove off I was thankful that the event was posted up on fb. Even though I'd been there before, I couldn''t remember exactly how to get there, and so, using my handy dandy i-phone I went on fb to look for the info on the event and put the address in my nav. I was all set... but it looked like I would be about 10mis late... Not good.
As I pulled up into the parking lot I was happy that the event was only just about to begin... hooray for desi time! We got tables lined up and set up all the donations on them - neatly folded. People were so happy to see all the items and went through them taking clothes, bags, suitcases, shoes.... They were so courteous. They smiled as they asked questions about what we had. I asked them what they needed and they told me that they would love suits to go to interviews in and hygiene supplies to keep clean and fresh. Another mental note: 'Try to get donors for shampoo, soap, deodorant, razors and nice clothes so they can be presentable for job interviews'.
In the kitchen they needed my help making containers of breakfast food, slicing pastries and bagels from Panera Bread and putting in pancakes that volunteers were making fresh off the grill compliments of IHOP. As I was loading the scrambled eggs donated by a kind volunteer onto the bagles, I noticed how efficeiently the six of us were operating. It was like a well oiled machine cooking, flipping, slicking, passing, packing. Everyone was busy as a bee and the women and children in the soup kitchen waited eagerly as they smelled the nice hot breakfast on it's way to them while the guys waited patiently outside the women's shelter for us to pass them the containers filled with hot delicious breakfast.
After we were done we cleaned up and chatted with some of the the moms and children and took pictures with them as well. It's always interesting to hear stories of how people get into homeless shelters. So many of us feel like that kind of situation will never befall us. But you know what, things happen in life. Hurricanes hit - both real and metaphorical, and life ends up sweeping people into situations like this where they find themselves transient, in shelters, with children, needing help. One such woman in the shelter happened to recognize one of our volunteers. They were in the army together! Life had taken them down different paths and here she was now with three young children in a shelter telling us the story of how she got there. The world sure is a small place. It could happen to any one of us. But how many care to help....
P.S. - Oh no, I forgot those cookies! :( iA, I'll be back next month and bring more to donate. Hope you will too!
UMF Hungerteam events take place every third Saturday of the month at about 9:30am at the Sanford shelter, God-willing, and accepts everything from clothes to household items to help those in need. We hope to see you at the next one!
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 UMF has a new number! 800-UMF-1795
(800-863-1795)
Fax: 407-804-9144
We look forward to hearing from you! |
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$2,647 donated to help Joplin victims
On May 22, a killer tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, a city of 50,000 people, slamming straight into St. John's Regional Medical Center. Thousands of people were left homeless and with no means of survival in the face of the single deadliest twister this country has seen in the past 60 years.
In response, United Muslim Foundation began a collection of donations to help the victims of the tornado. With the community's help, we were able to raise $1,647. UMF also donated $1,000 and a total of $2,647 was sent to ICNA relief for the people of Joplin.
Thank you to all of those who helped!
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Caprisun Report: UMF Brigades
We collected 1,297 Caprisun pouches with your help. With this number of pouches we got 2,594 points that we did the following things with:
 We gave clean water to one person for two weeksWe helped provide a meal to seven people facing hungerWe adopted 468 square feet of wildlife landWe planted one tree in an American forestWe gave two baby chickens to a needy familyWe gave one goose to a needy familyWe gave ten honey bees to a needy familyWe gave school supplies to one homeless child for two school daysAnd we helped reduce 13 pounds of carbon from the atmosphere Sarrah Virji, UMF Caprisun Brigades |
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Panel on Women in Islam at Stetson
UMF representative Masuma Virji was one of three panelists at a Stetson University discussion focused on Muslim women and their personal experiences.
She along with the other two panelists, Mahdiya Fazel and Saba Al-Khataria discussed how much the hijab means to Muslim women and how it is a symbol of modesty and one that tells people "to look at my mind, not my body."
Masuma said that wearing hijab doesn't mean that Muslim women can't have "fashion sense" but, she she also noted that, "It's more important to define yourself by who you are, not by what you're wearing."
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Family Fun Day
United Muslim Foundation was one of the sponsors of Family Fun Day, an event put on by the Muslim Association of the Lehigh Valley to benefit its Islamic school expansion project.
The event took place on July 3rd and included tournaments in soccer, cricket, volleyball, basketball and Taekwondo as well as general family fun open to all faiths.
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Food Not Bombs
This summer, UMF has been part of a support group for "Food not bombs", a local group that has been feeding the homeless and hungry at the Lake Eola Park for over 6 years. The group had been fighting the city of Orlando in a court of law. The city had effected an ordinance that public feeding of greater than 25 individuals at Lake Eola must be limited to only two feedings per year. FNB members feel it is a violation of their personal rights not to be able to use a public park for a public event as crucial as feeding. The city of Orlando seems more concerned with the upkeep of the environment of and around the park. This is a posh locality. They don't want the homeless and the hungry there. A substitute place of feeding has been suggested by the city which would take the homeless far away from any public eyes and far away from any likely interaction with the general society. The court in Atlanta decided the case in favor of the city while previously, the local judge had decided the case in favor of "food not bombs." Since they had lost the legal battle, it became legal for law officers to arrest the group members as they continued to feed the poor in the park.
The FNB team members requested the presence of as many civilians as possible to witness their arrest as they continued on with their harmless feeding of the homeless. The event was simple but touching. About 7 -10 volunteers of the group, all different ages put out tables with fresh cooked vegetarian meals which they had brought out from their cars. Many seemingly homeless people lined up, got their meals and settled down on the tables that are present in that location of Lake Eola. They ate their food, had conversations with each other and handed in their empty plates which the volunteers washed for re-use and left. Few, stayed on a little longer. Many supporters were present. The entire serving and clean up took hardly 2 hours. There was no appreciable mess afterwords. Although no arrests took place that day, with so many watching, several arrests were made since.
It is really disheartening that our tax money can go towards law suits against those that are doing harmless things like feeding the hungry. Thankfully, there have been people in the community to stand up, and their efforts have paid off. Just this month, Mayor Dyer of Orlando announced that he would drop the charges against 27 FNB members and volunteers as the group has recently moved its feedings to City Hall.
That's one more small victory for local activism, but FNB is still determined to have the ordinance limiting their feedings repealed. If you choose to take action, write to your local officials that you have noticed what is going on in your community and that you are in disagreement with their official position; feeding people should not be discouraged, let alone penalized, and it should not be unlawful for tax payers to utilize any public park for a few hours to feed anyone if they choose to do so.
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