Serving — and feeding — the community

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This article was published 21/12/2024 (438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A group of young Muslim men walked up and down Main Street Saturday morning offering sandwiches, loaves of bread and cans of pop to Winnipeg’s homeless population in the spirit of holiday giving.

“This is what I was taught from a very young age, to volunteer for a good cause and to give back,” said Faraad Tahir, who has been a part of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association since he was a boy.

Tahir and others from the 50-person group spent the morning making more than 100 sandwiches before loading up their vehicles and heading downtown. The group handed out the food and drinks to people outside of Main Street Project and Siloam Mission before they planned to give out the remainder — if there was any — at Portage Place.

Tahir, 22, came to Winnipeg from Pakistan as a child and immediately felt the group’s community support.

“I was basically born into this group,” he said.

The Winnipeg branch of the nationwide association regularly donates its time and resources, including an annual blood drive and a food drive in early January.

The youth group has been handing out food around the holidays for a number of years. This year’s efforts, dubbed the Holiday Dinner on Wheels, launched nationwide, said spokesperson Abdul Iddris.

Iddris says to be charitable is to follow the Muslim faith.

“This is the Islamic teaching,” he said. “To serve our country, to serve the community in which we find ourselves and also the less fortunate among us. So regardless of where we find ourselves, regardless of color, regardless of language, we are there to serve people.”

Ahmadiyya Muslim is an Islamic movement that originated in 19th century British India who believe in most core pillars of Islam.

The group also hosts charity runs which raises thousands for an organization of its choice. In September, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elders Association hosted its third-annual Run for Winnipeg event, which raised $9,000 for two non-profits: the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba and the Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters.

Last year Iddris said the youth group doled out food to the homeless around the same time and the feeling is always the same.

“The fact that we were able to give it out and feed their stomachs, that is great,” he said. “That is what makes us happy. And we’re just glad that we are able to do this to serve our community.”

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca