A whole lot of needy families in Chicago are going to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving turkey this Thursday and a group of local American Muslims made it possible. It's a wonderful story of people helping people. The folks organizing this effort happen to be friends of mine and that's how I know about it. I'm sure there are other, similar efforts being undertaken - some smaller and others bigger - throughout the country this holiday season. Too bad we don't hear about them.
This is a story the local media should cover. This is what being a Muslim is about - charity and kindness to those in need borne out of the knowledge that what we have is but a trust from God with a command from Him to be charitable to those in need.
On the other hand, maybe its better if the media doesn't cover it, because in the end this isn't a publicity stunt. We know this to be true, because this effort has been going on for over a decade and it largely goes under the radar. Of course, the families that participate in this effort - both the ones who give and the ones who receive - recognize and understand the blessings that come from such acts of small kindness.
Here's a summary of the event provided by the lead organizer of this effort - Dr. Jihad Shoshara:
The 10th Annual Chicago Muslim Turkey Drive came to its end yesterday, and, Alhamdu Lillah (thanks to God) resulted in the delivery of 660 turkeys to families in need on Chicago’s South Side. The day began at a little after 9am, with the arrival of a big white truck carrying 165 cases of frozen turkeys to Emmett Till Academy’s campus at 65th and Champlain. After a slight delay (during which we went through the seemingly yearly ritual of establishing that we weren’t going to pay for the thousands of pounds of frozen turkeys on the spot), we managed to set up a well-practiced delivery system: a human chain of men moving 55 pound boxes of frozen turkeys from the back of the delivery truck into the school’s auditorium entrance, where they were then wheeled by gurney to the auditorium stage and stacked, ready to be distributed.
The unloading of the turkeys was fluid and greatly helped by two factors. First, an unusually warm day spared us the biting wind of previous years. Second, over 15 volunteers provided the braun without which the job could not have been done. As in the years past, the volunteers came from the Inner-city Muslim Action Network (who, in addition to moving the turkeys, later distributed by hand 150 turkeys to needy families near their Marquette Park offices that day) as well as from the Union Lodge #155 of Free and Accepted Masons, who have adopted Emmett Till as their school for community efforts. It was wonderful to work with these men once again.
The distribution of the remaining 500 turkeys (yes, I’ll talk about the other 10 later) was placed under the control of the Ms. Constance Gabb, Emmett Till’s parent liaison. Ms. Gabb, as she has in every year since I took over coordination of the drive 5 years ago, provided a well-rehearsed distribution system and on-the-spot management of distribution crises and flare-ups. She has had a lot to manage this year – she spoke in detail about the efforts she and the school have taken up to bolster the students’ sense of security and safety since one of them was tragically killed by gunfire a couple of months ago. The parents of children have now taken to patrol the school and its surrounding areas, wearing bright yellow vests; the vests themselves were provided not by the school district, but by Emmett Till’s principal, Charles Asiyanbi. Mr. Asiyanbi is energetic and warm man in his first year as principal, and he personally expressed to me his gratitude to the Muslim community for their generosity as he did to every volunteer who sacrificed his or her time that day.
Having learned from previous experience, the turkeys were not distributed on the spot but rather in a more orderly fashion. Emmett Till parents were given times during which they were allowed to come and obtain their turkeys after having their hand stamped; in addition, other schools in Woodlawn (that are in the same local consortium) were given a small amount of tickets to give to select students of theirs in need. The parents were also asked to come at 11:30 to begin picking up turkeys; however, parents began to arrive at 9:30, and as a result of the ensuing line, we began to hand out turkeys a half an hour early. Ms. Gabb controlled when the line would move through, ensuring that early birds would not jump the line ahead of parents who came when they were told; even with those blocks, however, we moved through all 500 turkeys in two hours. Every parent (this is not hyperbole – every parent) expressed their gratitude for this simple gift.
A lot of people are owed thanks for the success of the drive this year. At the outset, we discovered a major hurdle a few months back when we discovered that turkey prices had risen 20%, due largely to a 50% rise in the price of turkey feed. This led to your coordinator having a few restless nights during the past few weeks, and is the reason that my first set of thanks (after thanking the Almighty) is to everyone who donated this year. Even though we gave away eight fewer turkeys than last year, we actually raised more money, and the fact that you stepped up to cover this increase is a testament to your generosity. In addition, we are proud that even though this is a grass-roots effort organized by Chicago’s Muslim community, by our estimates some 10% of the money raised is given by non-Muslims. This speaks to the fact that what we consider an essential part of our faith – helping those in need – is shared by people of good will of all backgrounds, and that more of these efforts are wanted.
In addition to our donors, we need to extend thanks to many individuals. In addition to Ms. Gabb and Mr. Asiyanbi, we want to extend our thanks to the entire Emmett Till Academy family, in particular Miss Melendez and Miss Dudley. From IMAN, we would like to thank Rafi Peterson and Ma’alam Abdullah for their help in the distribution of the turkeys in Marquette Park. From Sabeel Food Pantry, we want to thank Farhat Quadri, who also came to the distribution (and accepted the final 10 turkeys, to be distributed at the Food Pantry’s location on Belmont). Many thanks are in order to Chris Calhoun, Abdulrahman Ali, and the rest of the brothers of the Union Masonic Lodge who gave up a day of work to help in moving the turkeys along. On our volunteer side, Faiz Kamal and Sofia Shakir were instrumental in coordinating, organizing, and soliciting for the drive, and it would not have been a success without them – Jazakum Allahu Khayr. Thanks to Dr. Munir Chaudry of IFANCA and Sabeel Pantry for his essential help in obtaining our turkeys wholesale. Finally, thanks to my family, for tolerating my discombobulation over the past month – I am indeed blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving! See you all at Turkey Drive 2011!
Wassalaam/In Peace,
Jihad
Jihad - thank you for giving us a chance to do something meaningful during the Thanksgiving holiday!
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