FOOD DONATED BY BRITISH MUSLIMS WILL GO TO FEED HOMELESS AT ‘CRISIS AT CHRISTMAS’ CENTRES IN LONDON
প্রকাশিত হয়েছে : ১৫ ডিসেম্বর ২০১৭
London, 15 December 2017 : East Londoners of all faiths and none carried items of food for those who go without over the Christmas and winter period as donations to Muslim Aid outside the East London Mosque on Friday, 15 December, between 12 and 2pm. Muslim Aid has teamed up with the East London Mosque and Crisis for the collection.
Nozmul Hussain, Chief Executive Officer of East London Mosque, John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets Council, Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi of British Reform Judaism, Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE, founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum, the Revd Bernadette Heg
Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive at Crisis, says: “We are extremely thankful to Muslim Aid and their supporters for generously supporting our Crisis at Christmas shelters with food for thousands of homeless people.
“Winter can be especially hard for homeless people as temperatures drop and many face their nights alone, cold and in danger. With the homelessness crisis worsening, Crisis at Christmas is now needed more than ever.
“Open from 23 to 29 December, our temporary shelters provide warmth, companionship and hot meals to guests with nowhere to call home. While here, guests are offered specialist advice on everything from housing, work and benefits and mental health support. And they are also introduced to our year-round services which support people after Christmas to leave homelessness behind for good.
“Our work is only possible because of the generosity of supporters like those of Muslim Aid. This food will go a long way in helping us make Christmas what it should be for thousands of homeless people.”
The Food Drive is a major component of Muslim Aid’s Winter Campaign, which has been happening annually since 2011 and this year is entitled Share the Love.
“We are absolutely delighted to be working with Crisis, and to know that all of the food our supporters donate from this collection will go to Crisis at Christmas,” says Muslim Aid Chief Executive Officer Jehangir Malik OBE. “As British Muslims, we enjoy the Christmas spirit of sharing love and giving, which resonates with our Islamic values of compassion and charity.”
He continues: “We are shocked about the record high figures from Crisis that 4,134 people slept rough in England alone on any given night in 2016 and, while as a global relief and development agency we are committed to raising millions of pounds for overseas aid, we at Muslim Aid also have a responsibility to help desperate people here at home. The Prophet Muhammad said: “He who sleeps on a full stomach whilst his neighbour goes hungry is not one of us.”
A call for donations such as rice, pasta, cereal and tinned goods was announced to the 7,000 people attending Friday prayers at the East London Mosque last week. Staff and children from London East Academy Secondary School and Al Mizan Junior School helped collect and pack donations. The food will be transported over the weekend to a Crisis at Christmas warehouse. Muslim Aid’s winter campaign Share the Love will also include:
· Similar food drives at mosques in Balham (12 December) and Tooting (13 December). (A collection has already taken place last weekend at Croydon mosque where the response was phenomenal and the congregation doubled what they gave last year. Although not yet officially verified, organisers estimate the collection was between four and five tonnes).
· Distributions of rucksacks containing a sleeping bag, gloves, scarf, and cutlery to the homeless and elderly in Bethnal Green, Deptford and Ilford.
· Soup kitchens in North West London (5 January 2018), Walthamstow, London (21 January 2018), and Exeter, and one run by students at the London School of Economics.
· Provision of draught excluders and radiator reflectors for The Heat Project in Waltham Forest, helping the elderly and alone to keep warm.