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US Charity Helps India Poor in Ramadan

CALIFORNIA – A US-based charity has kicked off a Ramadan feeding program to ensure that Indian poor and needy will be able to make ends meet during the holy fasting month.

“We have been improving our ‘Ramadan feeding program’ reach,” Manzoor Ghori, Executive Director of Indian Muslim Relief & Charities (IMRC), told TCN News on Wednesday, May 18.

Kicking off IMRC’s ‘Ramadan Feeding Program’, the charity will attempt to reach out in the rural and slum areas of India so they can enjoy Ramadan with a meal for suhoor, iftar and `Eid.

With the help of its 235 volunteers, the charity ensured last year that 74 distribution centers were established across 19 Indian states, where thousands of families benefitted from the distribution of grains.

“In 2014, we were able to reach villages in 12 states; in 2015 it was 19 and this year we plan to reach 22 states so that our help percolates to maximum and needy people scattered across India,” Ghori added.

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The Ramadan program started with online crowd funding.

A donation of $1 will get a person one-time meal and a donation of $25 will assist a family of four for all of Ramadan with grain package, whereas a donation of $200 sponsors an iftar for a village consisting of 200 people.

IMRC’s program extends beyond providing cooked meals and grains during Ramadan.

It also provides the opportunity for children and adults to have a pair of new `Eid clothes for a donation as low as $25 for an outfit.

Donations will also be directed to the health sector, as a donation of $5 will help treat a sick person at a community clinic, $20 sponsors one dialysis session, whereas $50 sponsors a cataract surgery with lens implant.

Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, kicks-off on June 6.

In Ramadan, adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Muslims dedicate their time during the holy month to become closer to Allah through prayer, self-restraint and good deeds.

It is customary for Muslims to spend part of the days during Ramadan studying the Noble Qur’an.

Many men perform i`tikaf (spiritual retreat), spending the last 10 days of the month exclusively in the mosque.