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

Day of Dignity 2010: Dallas