Building on a year-long cooperation between Edmonton Islamic group and a local church, volunteers from both faith groups came together on Sunday to help hand out warm food and wellness kits to vulnerable Edmontonians.
The charitable program was led by members of the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), McDougall United Church, Bent Arrow and Human Concern International who prepared 200 bowls of chili and kits with hygiene items to be distributed in the downtown core.
“It’s been our vision to build this into a community hub that can be of much greater service to the community than we have been able to do as a small congregation,” Larry Derkach, church council chair, told CTV News.
📚 Read Also: This Edmonton Islamic Center Is Doing Amazing Social Services
The cooperation between the two faith groups started a year ago when McDougall Church shared their space for prayers and community projects with MAC.
“It seems inevitable that we would come together and work on these things together,” Majda Jimali, a MAC volunteer, said.
“We pool our talents together,” she added. “We pool our budgets together… Everyone pooling in, pitching in makes the project bigger, and we can serve more people.”
📚 Read Also: I Wanted to Bring a Friend to Christianity, Allah Guided Me to Him
Helping Others
Imane Ait Daoud, who works in the mental health field, volunteered on Sunday to help bring her practice into action.
“Coming out here, doing something hands-on gives me a different opportunity to help,” she said. “These opportunities are a good way to get people who don’t usually interact to interact. It’s a great way to connect.
“When we do that, when we create those opportunities and spaces, then we create a huge opportunity for the future Edmonton,” Ait Daoud added.
“For these spaces to become more alive and people can become more comfortable reaching across [to help].”
Islam requires all neighbors to be loving and cooperative with one another, sharing their sorrows and happiness.
It also enjoins that they should establish social relations in which one can depend upon the other and regard his life, honor, and property safe among his neighbors.