Baltimore 'Day of Dignity' 2009 Helps Over 1,000 People

Islamic Relief USA staff member, Zeyad Maasarani, relates his experience at the Baltimore Day of Dignity this past weekend.

“I’m down on luck,” Frances, a 50-year-old homeless woman, told me in front of Baltimore City Hall, as she wiped tears from her face.

I was with a caravan of volunteers that had been driving around downtown Baltimore, searching for clusters of homeless individuals so we can serve them some fried chicken and french fries. We saw a group in front of City Hall and pulled over, setting up a table for food, and passing aid parcels filled with items we figured they’d need, like towels, blankets and basic hygiene items.

More than 1,000 locals were already receiving a hot meal and the aid parcels, in addition to health screenings, financial and employment advice among other services in front of Masjid Ul-Haqq across town, but we wanted to bring the ‘Day of Dignity’ to those who couldn’t make it.

Frances saw us and ran over. With the smell of freshly fried chicken bombarding my nostrils, I watched her collect her aid, in addition to some feminine hygiene items. She was shocked to see what we were doing and let the tears flow as she thanked us.

“Thank you,” she kept on saying, wiping her tears away with her new towel. “You really did help me.”

I stared back in awe, not sure how a hot meal and a bag with some things could make her so emotional.

“I’m serious,” she kept saying. “I’m not just saying that.”

I took my camera out and started recording for our donors to see, but I don’t need the video to remember the look on her face. I will never forget the gratitude she showed, but I felt like we traded places; like it was a reversal of roles, for just a second.

Picture this: Hundreds of homeless and underserved Baltimoreans enjoying a hot meal with smiles on their faces and stories to share, while privileged people like me and you observe the daylong Ramadan fast, starving and thirsty, looking on.

It was a beautiful thing.

I asked one of the beneficiaries, “What are we doing wrong, can we do anything else for you?”

“Y'all are doing everything right and nothing wrong!” he replied. “We greatly appreciate it!” he said. But I knew he wasn’t praising me: this wouldn’t be possible without our donors and volunteers.

Another man told me that without Islamic Relief he would not have survived the previous winter.

“I still have the blanket I got from last year’s event,” he told me. The fact that these
people remember and look forward to this ‘Day of Dignity,’ which is only one day of the year, made me feel like we’re making a difference. But it also made me sad.

We shouldn’t be doing this once a year, or just once a month. These are people suffering just down the street from our mosques and homes. We should have reached out to them everyday.

The ‘Day of Dignity’ changed my life and my attitude towards poverty, and it might do the same for you.

Day of Dignity 2009- NBC Chicago Covers Day of Dignity Event

Chicago Muslims Begin Ramadan With Day of Service
Updated 12:15 PM CDT, Sun, Aug 23, 2009

Chicago Muslims joined others around the world in observing the holy month of Ramadan, which began Saturday.
Muslims at the Iman Center on West 63rd Street spent the first day of observance giving free health screenings and hosting a back-to-school kickoff for neighborhood kids.
While Ramadan is known as a period of fasting and spiritual self reflection, it's also a time of service and compassion.
For more information, check out the Muslim Community Center or ChicagoMuslims.com.

Day of Dignity 2009- Helping Chicago's Working Poor

Domestic Programs Coordinator, Karim Amin, recaps the 'Day of Dignity' Chicago event:

Alhamdulilah (All praise be to God), 'Day of Dignity' Chicago was definitely a great way to open up Ramadan. A collaboration between Islamic Relief USA and IMAN, the Inner-city Muslim Action Network, the event provided those who attended with school supplies, toiletries, hygiene kits, and even had a small farmer’s market with a basketball court and a jumper for the kids.

Primarily a Latino and African-American neighborhood, many of the people living in South Chicago are unemployed and live below the poverty line. Many are the working poor: hard working people with honest jobs, but when one thing goes wrong, or an emergency happens, everything gets messed up.

One gentlemen who came to get supplies for his family told me he was a construction worker who hurt his leg and since then has had no way of earning a living. Recently, there was a fire at his home and he and his family lost a lot of their belongings.

He was a man that was concerned for his family; all he wanted were sheets, blankets and hygiene kits to cover the needs of his children.

This really impacted me, because this gentleman worked hard to make an honest living but because of just one or two incidents, he couldn’t provide for his family anymore. It felt good to give him some basic items for the day. Even though they may not last long, at least we helped for that day.

Chicago is also an area with a lot of gang influence and violence. The local 'Day of Dignity' coordinator, Tony Salam, runs a program where he helps former incarcerated individuals get back into the community. Some of the men and women we worked with to put this event on were formerly part of those communities, but through this program they’re making a change and giving back and that was an excellent thing to see.

All of the volunteers worked very hard and Rami Nashashibi was an excellent host. Alhamdulilah, we fed over 600 people.

I wish we could have done more. But Alhamdulilah (All praise be to God), but working with organizations like IMAN and Islamic Relief USA we can use 'Day of Dignity' as a launching pad for more sustainable efforts in the south side of Chicago.

Day of Dignity 2009- How to Help

About Day of Dignity 2009

'Day of Dignity' Expands to Help More People in More Cities
Volunteers across the country are teaming with Islamic Relief USA in the annual 'Day of Dignity' effort to serve thousands of homeless and underserved people in 19 cities.

After eight years of organizing the event only during the month of Ramadan, Islamic Relief USA lengthened the 'Day of Dignity' effort to ten weekends and expanded to 19 cities. The event began August 15 and will run until December 6.

Providing beneficiaries with food, clothing, blankets, medical care, first aid, and other social services, Islamic Relief USA staff and volunteers will offer assistance to all who attend, regardless of their backgrounds.

"These people treated me with dignity, and that's all I can ask for," Sandra Carpenter, one of the 20,000 people who benefitted from last year's 'Day of Dignity,' told the Seattle Times. She said she had been sleeping on a mat in a homeless shelter for over a month, so the clothing and healthcare she received from Islamic Relief USA were very helpful.

"I may be down on my luck, but I am still a human being. It's sort of nice to be treated like one," she said.

In the Islamic tradition, Ramadan is the month of spirituality, self-reflection, service, and compassion, but is perhaps most known for its daylong fasts where Muslims abstain from food, water and marital relations from dawn till dusk. Many of the volunteers who will be helping Islamic Relief USA are observant Muslims who fast the month of Ramadan, which began on August 22.

"Ramadan helps us feel the hunger and thirst that 'Day of Dignity' beneficiaries feel," Islamic Relief USA Domestic Programs Coordinator Karim Amin said. "It's a feeling we can barely deal with for one month, but they have to feel it year-round. That's why it's so important we help them this Ramadan."

With a team of staff, local coordinators and volunteers dedicated to the cause, Amin is optimistic about this year's event.

"Thanks to popular support, we were able to expand and we hope to help more people than ever," he added. Last year, Islamic Relief USA held the 'Day of Dignity' in 18 cities, helping about 20,000 people.

The 2009 'Day of Dignity' will take place on the following dates, in these cities:
Aug. 15 Fort Thompson, SD
Aug. 22 Chicago, IL
Aug. 29 Baltimore, MD
Aug. 30 Philadelphia, PA
Sept. 5 Washington, D.C.; Dallas, TX; Newark, NJ
Sept. 6 Atlanta, GA
Sept. 12 Detroit, MI; Kalamazoo, MI
Sept. 13 Boston, MA
Sept. 19 Portland, OR
Sept. 26 Elizabeth, NJ
Sept. 27 Irvington, NJ
Oct. 3 Brooklyn, NY
Oct. 4 Manhattan, NY
Nov. 21 Seattle, WA
Dec. 5 Phoenix, AZ
Dec. 6 Las Vegas, NV

For more information please contact Domestic Programs Coordinator, Karim Amin at karim@IslamicReliefUSA.org.

Day of Dignity 2009- The Impact of Giving

A native boy picks his prize for winning carnival games during Day of Dignity South Dakota.

Islamic Relief USA staff member Melissa Barreto recently returned from the first 'Day of Dignity' event which was held at the Crow Creek Native American reservation in South Dakota on August 15. She could not forget her experience and reflected on the plane ride back. Below are some excerpts from her journal.

In Native American culture, giving is a cherished and respected custom. And I don’t mean giving with the expectation of a profit. I mean giving in the pure sense, giving without want for something in return.

It’s this kind of pure giving that forms the foundation of loving and lasting relationships.

This relationship is one that Islamic Relief USA has been able to build with the native community of South Dakota through the 'Day of Dignity' distributions.

Assistant Coordinator Anisah David told me about her experience the first year Islamic Relief USA brought Day of Dignity to Ft. Thompson.

“People were really surprised that we were just giving things away without asking for anything in return or trying to sell them anything,” she said. “Apparently, no one had ever done that before, and we were really surprised by that.”

As the 'Day of Dignity' events continued at Ft. Thompson, more and more residents became curious about Islamic Relief USA’s work and about the Muslims who volunteered their time to help.

This year, over 500 reservation residents attended the event and received towels,
washcloths, hygiene kits, clothing, and enjoyed carnival games with their
children.

“This is our first time to this event, it’s really nice and I appreciate it very much,” one woman told me. “I didn’t know that your people knew about us.”

She didn’t know that my people, Muslim people, knew about her. Her words struck me so deep that I couldn’t even verbalize a response to her at the time we were talking. Then she went one step further and struck me again by saying, “It’s good to make new relatives.”

SubhanAllah (Glory be to God)! This woman, who just a moment before was surprised I even knew of her existence, had just included me, and Muslims at large, as a part of her very own family.

This is the impact that Day of Dignity has. This is the impact of giving.

DayofDignity South Dakota Volunteers Honored During Pow Wow

Children's Activities at Day of Dignity Ft. Thompson, South Dakota

DoD09 Volunteers at Ft. Thompson, South Dakota

Joset Irving on the Impact of Change on Reservation Youth

Teen Suicide Packs on the Reservation

History of Day of Dignity at Crow Creek Reservation in Ft. Thompson, South Dakota

There’s only five days left until the Day of Dignity tour begins.

August 15 will mark the first stop in Ft. Thompson, South Dakota where a large majority of the residents are Native Americans living in poverty.

Unemployment, overcrowding, and lack of plumbing all contribute to the hardships faced by Ft. Thompson families. I mention this not to exploit their situations, but to give a glimpse of the America that not many see, hear or even think about, the America that the Day of Dignity events aim to serve.

By offering high-quality services such as health check-ups, food and clothing distributions, and toys for children, Day of Dignity staff and volunteers are able to help ease the burden of families in poverty.

But the events are much more than just handing out goods. They’re about the smiles and sincerity, the hugs and the handshakes, the talks and the tears, and most of all they’re about the love that comes with knowing that no matter their situation, every person deserves to be treated with dignity.