NEW ORLEANS – A leading Islamic relief group has launched a campaign this Ramadan to ensure that refugees and needy people have enough groceries to keep and break their fasts during the holy month.

“We don’t want any family to worry about the grocery bill breaking the bank,” Jenny Yanez, a volunteer at ICNA Relief New Orleans, told WWLTV.

“It’s our calling to serve humanity, not just to serve other Muslims,” Yanez said.

Ramadan Food Boxes campaign includes offering “Food Baskets/Bags/Boxes contain items such as oil, beans, pasta, sauce, rice, flour, tea, sugar, and other ethnic foods depending upon the population we’re serving at a given location.”

Since the start of Ramadan, volunteers in local mosques have been active in collecting or distributing these boxes to the needy.

Yanez, one of the volunteers in New Orleans, helped rebuild after Katrina and now she’s focused on building a year-round food pantry in the Metro Area.

Starting small, their project grew swiftly thanks to donations of canned goods coming in from families both within and outside of the Muslim community.

“Together, connectively we build something greater than what we had yesterday,” Yanez said.

“You take care of your family first, and your neighbors and the community and that’s how society is taken care of,” Yanez said.

ICNA is one of the largest, non-profit, grassroots Muslim organizations in North America with many projects, programs, and activities designed to help in reforming society at large.

Since 1968, ICNA has worked to build relations between communities by devoting itself to education, outreach, social services and relief efforts.