Reflections on Day of Dignity 2010

The impetus behind "Day of Dignity" can be drawn from our mission here at Islamic Relief USA, which includes "… to alleviate suffering …. and to provide aid in a compassionate and dignified manner." Over the course of the 2010 Days of Dignity, I’ve often been asked, “Why Day of Dignity?” My response is that events associated with the Day of Dignity provide an opportunity for people of all persuasions to be of service to people in need, at least one time, one day, one month of the year.

The last Day of Dignity event in Capitol Heights, Md., on Dec. 18th completed nearly a year of efforts and events that began last spring with training sessions for coordinators who, over the next eight months, would manage thousands of volunteers and serve many more thousands of beneficiaries.

Since the first Day of Dignity event at Fort Thompson in South Dakota last June, volunteers have worked selflessly to ensure that the event(s) in their respective cities went well. So engaged were they that, on occasion, volunteers ventured from one event to the next, from one city to another, to participate. To witness this was a blessing from Allah (swt).

Invariably, volunteers would gather early for work, long before the day was to officially start. And likewise, beneficiaries would begin to line up in anticipation of what was to come. Once the day’s events would get under way, I would witness the smiles on the faces of both those who gave and those who received.

To watch people queue up for a meal, health screening or a haircut and a few personal supplies reminded me of the adage, "But by the grace of God, there go I." I remember thinking that in a country so blessed with natural resources and human capacity, it was almost unthinkable that people would be homeless, that children would go to bed hungry and that too often some of our senior citizens would find themselves faced with the decision of whether to eat, pay their utilities or buy much-needed medication.

While Day of Dignity wouldn’t make any of those realities disappear, I encourage people to look upon it as a model.

It’s a model that packages concern and compassion and partners it with unbridled volunteerism, which then creates the synergy that has the capacity to help us find solutions to everyday problems facing our society. Ideally, people would look at Day of Dignity and see it as a concept that provokes action and begets positive results. If they find any pleasure in that activity, then I would encourage them to work to see that it is replicated, in some form, in other areas of the country.

As the last 2010 Day of Dignity event wound down last weekend, I went through the mental exercise of recalling favorite moments or a favorite moment from the different cities where the events were held. A volunteer in Washington, D.C., a young Christian college student, summed it up best when she said, "I just wanted to come and give. [I want to] acknowledge, if possible, some of the blessings I have received in life and try to provide some relief to those facing difficulty today. I have what I need, and so, I and others in similar circumstances should be willing to share with those less fortunate."

And I was then reminded of that tried-and-true saying: "To those that are given much, much is expected."

-- Saleem Khalid, Islamic Relief USA

At last Day of Dignity, a Community Comes Together

As I walked up to the Oak Crest Community Center in Capitol Heights, Md., the cold wind hit me in the face. But the chill was soon replaced by a warm chant—“Day of Dignity, Today is Your Day”—sung by the volunteers as they welcomed beneficiaries at Day of Dignity event in mid-December.

It was the last event of Islamic Relief USA's 2010 Day of Dignity season, the final city out of 22 we visited this year. And the time spent at Oak Crest was as meaningful and special as the first 2010 Day of Dignity event in South Dakota last June.

Recipients were lined up throughout the community center, waiting patiently to receive their passport, which signified their entry into the Day of Dignity event. The beneficiaries’ first stop was the gym, where they were treated to a large cadre of services and gifts, ranging from International House of Pancakes coupons to community college registration forms.

After they left the gym, they went into the next room where they were welcomed with warm meals, cotton candy, and children’s activities, including entertainment from local school bands.

The next room housed a medical clinic. Dentists and doctors provided checkups while volunteer nurses administered flu shots. The journey ended in the clothing lounge, where recipients choose whatever they wanted from racks of clothing, including shirts, coats, and socks. The beneficiaries who came out to this last Day of Dignity event left with smiles on their faces and bags of goods.

One gentleman stopped me and said, “Thanks I really appreciated this,” and then walked away with his groceries. But the funny thing is, I appreciated him giving me the opportunity to give to others. It is a beautiful way to live.

This was truly a community affair—a symbiotic relationship between the volunteers and the beneficiaries, and I felt truly blessed to be a part of Day of Dignity 2010.

-- Karim Amin, Domestic Programs Coordinator at Islamic Relief USA

Gallery: A Look Back at Day of Dignity in 2010

2010's Day of Dignity season was full of memorable moments, lives touched, and dignity given and received. For those who volunteered to the beneficiaries who came for health screenings, school supplies, clothing, and hot meals, the Day of Dignity events was an important model of how important it is to give dignity to those who need help. Thanks to all who turned out.

'Day of Dignity' Serves Impoverished in New York City's Brooklyn and Manhattan

New York, New York
Karim Amin

Every time I drive past Exit 9 on the New Jersey turnpike, I feel a shot of energy. The air, traffic and scenery transforms: The autumn-colored trees and rest stops that line the highway are replaced by sprawling buildings and billboards. My mindset changes to a New York state of mind. But underneath all the bright lights of Broadway and the massive bridges that connect this metropolis are the often unheard stories of people in need.

This is the sixth year that Islamic Relief USA hosted Day of Dignity in New York. The weekend of events kicked off in Brooklyn at Masjid Al-Taqwa, the home of Imam Siraj Wahaj. Dozens of volunteers from all over the city converged on this historic mosque to serve the community. The line wrapped around the building. Recipients received basic health check-ups, clothing and food.

Each beneficiary was greeted at the end of the line with a warm meal and drink. Toward the end of the event, Imam Siraj Wahaj stopped by his mosque and provided a boost of energy to the volunteers who had worked so hard to organize this event.

The next day started with the same energy as the first. Recipients lined up outside of the Saint Francis Xavier Church in midtown Manhattan. As some of the city’s homeless and working poor entered the building, they were welcomed with goods and meals.

“This is a great example of interfaith work,” said a St. Xavier staff member. “There are Muslims organizing an event at a Catholic church, with donations (book bags and school kits) from the Mormon church with Jewish volunteers.”

That is the beauty of Day of Dignity. It marries dignity with giving and brings together diverse groups for a common cause — to simply help those who need it, no matter where they are from or where they are going.


--Karim Amin is IR USA's Day of Dignity and domestic programs coordinator
photo: Bilal Aslam

Day of Dignity in Baltimore: 'Today, You Made Me Feel Like a Somebody'

A sign on the side of the road spoke the truth of the day: “You respect me, I’ll respect you.” It was painted in white on a piece of scrap lumber, leaning up against a fence. Across the street were boarded-up row houses, a few occupied by people. Though the day was bright and a breeze was blowing, the mood in that battered part of Baltimore was subdued.

But as I neared Masjid ul-Haqq, where Islamic Relief USA’s Day of Dignity event was held on Saturday over the Labor Day weekend, the atmosphere changed to one of love, respect and friendship. A long table in front of the mosque held trays of food – spaghetti, garlic bread, fried chicken, and other things. People lined up for meals dished out by Day of Dignity volunteers and then received bags full of items to help them survive the winter.

"It’s very good, very useful stuff," said Robert Wilson, one of the beneficiaries of event. “Islamic Relief, they treat me with respect.”

Nearly 800 people came out for the event, receiving food, socks, soap, underwear, clothing, notebooks, pencils, and other school supplies. Many, clutching their bags, headed over to the picnic tables nearby to eat the food they had received.

"Anytime I don’t have to cook for all these kids, it’s a good day," said Geraldine Gibson, who had come to Masjid al-Haqq with her children – including a one-month-old baby -- after hearing about Day of Dignity from her neighbors. “Everyone’s so friendly here,” she said.”

“I love the spaghetti and garlic bread,” added her daughter, Briana Garrison. It was her second year at the event. “The school supplies are the best,” she said. “Islamic Relief knows the things we really need. This stuff can get so expensive!”

The purpose of the event, as explained to me by Masjid ul-Haqq’s Imam and Baltimore Day of Dignity Coordinator Hassan Amin, is to lend a hand to those who need it most while giving them respect and dignity, and that was evident in every fiber of every volunteer and every beneficiary who were there giving and receiving.

“People don’t know where their next meal is coming from,” Amin said. “Being here, receiving food and useful items – it gives them a sense of dignity, a sense of worth. We don’t ask questions. This is a mandate upon us as Muslims that we have to do this.”

Baltimore’s Day of Dignity was an initiative from Islamic Relief USA. Groups like ICNA Relief USA, Women Accepting Responsibility, Total Health Care, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, and Baltimore City Health Department also partnered with IR USA at the event. They had tables with backpacks and other goods and pamphlets offering information about counseling, health care, child care, and more for those in need.

As the day wore on and volunteers saw that there were extra bags of goods and food still left, Islamic Relief USA’s Domestic Programs Coordinator Karim Amin (son of Hassan Amin) loaded up a van , drove to other local areas frequented by homeless people and passed out food, hygiene kits and other items.

It touched me to see their energy. It wasn’t enough to provide goods and food to the people who came to the mosque. They went out into the city, found people who couldn’t come to the event and took the event to them.

I made a mental note to remember the energy and drive of the Amins and the volunteers, most of who were fasting, anytime I felt too tired to help someone.

Ronald Todd, another beneficiary at the event, spent time talking with volunteers, getting his blood pressure checked and circling all the tables of information and goods.

“I thank God for Islamic Relief,” Todd told me. “I thank the lord that he has blessed you all to be able to get here and listen and help the unfortunate ones.
“This means a lot to me,” Todd said.

“To the more fortunate ones, the ones who have money, the ones who don’t know what it is like not to know where your next paycheck is coming from – to them I am a nobody. But today, you made me feel like a somebody.”

Learn more about Day of Dignity and its history here. To donate, please click here.

-- Dilshad D. Ali

Day of Dignity 2010: Scenes from Baltimore

In Flint, Michigan, Dignity is Served

As I flew over Lake Michigan I couldn’t help but notice the bright lights along Chicago’s Gold coast. Only the stars were brighter than the lights from the high rises that studded the Chicago Skyline. Then our plane crossed over Lake Michigan, and Chicago’s bright lights were replaced with the sparse lighting of Western Michigan. We inched closer and closer to the ground of Flint, Michigan, and everything became noticeably darker.

The factories that once pumped out the cars and other machinery were shut down. The neighborhoods that housed these great leaders of the auto industry were now empty. Those left behind after the auto plants closed largely remain unemployed, which has increased poverty and homelessness in Flint.

I rode through the streets of Flint with Br. Saleem Khalid, Islamic Relief USA’s Domestic Programs Manager. We saw block after city block littered with closed businesses and factories. It was a grim scene. But when we arrived at the Flint Housing Committee, we were greeted with a pleasant smile from one of the many volunteers at the Day of Dignity site.

We came around the corner of the parking lot and saw throngs of people waiting in the sun to receive the goods and medical screenings that would be provided by the Day of Dignity volunteers. Bus loads of people picked up from different parts of Flint flooded the parking lot of the housing commission. “We have a billboard downtown,” said Terrence Clark of the Flint Housing Commission, “People know about this event. They are going to come.”

Infants, children, adults, and even elderly people awaited their turn to receive their bags, which included hygiene kits, gently-used clothing, new school kits, and toys. As they were awaiting their goods, some of the children giggled and laughed in the moon bounce. And at the end of the line they received Subway sandwiches and water. The beneficiaries walked away with smiles on their faces and bags filled with goods.

The volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the day to serve everyone with dignity. This event was led by the Flint Muslim Youth Group and organized by Ghada Alkiek, a recent high school graduate. She led her young crew of volunteers with energy and enthusiasm. And despite the fact that most of the volunteers were fasting, it seemed that the longer the day got the harder they worked. By the end of the day, 700 people had been served with dignity.

As the day wrapped the volunteers asked eagerly what my impression of the event was. All I could say about the event was “Alhamdulillah, this event was very good.” If these young volunteers are the future of Islamic Relief USA, then we have a bright future ahead of us.

-- Karim Amin, National Day of Dignity Coordinator