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.