Hampers help spread ‘Ramadan warmth’

In a small building on St. Anne’s Road, packages of dried chickpeas, dates and rose water are stuffed into cardboard boxes.

The boxes are neatly packed along an assembly line with about a dozen items before being handed off to a table of young women who wrap them in clear cellophane adorned with polka dots and seal it with a purple ribbon.

“We want to make it feel a little special and make it look nice and put together. Because we could just give them a basket, but we want to make sure it looks nice,” said volunteer wrapper Sumha Ali.

The group of 16 volunteers hope to pack 175 food hampers in just two hours. After all, there’s no time to waste: Ramadan is only two weeks away and they want to get hampers in the hands of families well before it begins.

The volunteers are with Islamic Relief, a national humanitarian agency that provides aid in 40 countries, including Canada. The hampers are packed annually to assist refugees and newcomers in the province.

The hampers provide halal, or food permissible under Islamic law, for recipients to use to break the sunrise-to-sunset fast during Ramadan, which runs from Feb. 18 to March 19.

Other food items include rice, lentils, sugar, coffee, tomato paste, oatmeal, dates and spices, said Iqra Tariq, who represents Islamic Relief in Manitoba.

“It’s a way to spread Ramadan warmth and help everyone feel part of the community,” she said of the effort, in its third year in Manitoba.

Funds for the hampers come from donations. The organization’s partner in Winnipeg is the non-profit Healthy Muslim Families, which will distribute the food to its clients and others before Ramadan begins.

Joining in on the packing efforts Thursday was Mario Bertrand, a staffer for area MP Ginette Lavack. Bertrand was there on behalf of Lavack, who couldn’t make it.

“This is my first year and I’m feeling really inspired,” Bertrand said. “As we face a lot of affordability concerns, humanitarian concerns, a lot of these people have strong families, big families, and so we want to make sure that this month they don’t have to worry about food.”

Islamic Relief has been organizing hampers in Canada during Ramadan for eight years. Last year, it provided hampers for 6,630 families and individuals in eight provinces, including in Manitoba.

The volunteers planned to pack another 150 on Friday to support 325 families. Tariq said the need for the packages grows each year.

While Muslims are encouraged to be charitable all year round, Ramadan is a special time for remembering those in need, said Houda Kerkadi with Islamic Relief.

“There is a strong emphasis on food security during Ramadan,” she said from her Montreal office, adding it is a time of reflection, generosity and helping neighbours. “We believe that the affordability crisis requires a collective response, and that everyone must do their part, including us.”

As Canadians struggle to put food on the table, “these food distributions not only act as a space for immediate relief, but also as a call to action for an equitable access to food,” she said.

Ramadan is a month that emphasizes spiritual growth, charity, and community building for the world’s two billion Muslims. There are about 1.7 million Muslims in Canada.

People who would like to donate to Islamic Relief to help pay for hampers can visit islamicreliefcanada.org.

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