SCHOOLS: Noor Ul-Iman

Taking small but important steps to help fight hunger.

By: Sharlee Joy DiMenichi
   Out of cracker boxes, vegetable cans and rolls of paper towels, giant letters formed the words "No Hunger." Students at Noor-ul-Iman Islamic school used 1,000 items of food and paper products they collected in a schoolwide food drive to spell "No Hunger" in the parking lot of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey on Route 1 on April 24.
   The abundance of food was the culmination of a monthlong effort to teach the school’s 274 students about gratitude and to cultivate the habit of sharing, as part of a character education curriculum. By contributing food to be donated to Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick, students said they learned the importance of providing for those who have trouble affording food.
   "We need to be helpful, and we need to care about others," said ninth-grader Nabiha Ahmed. "We need to make sure that other people have the same amount of food as us."
   Care for others should transcend the boundaries that often divide people, Imam Hamad Ahmed Chebli of the ISCJ told the elementary school students as they gathered in the mosque after making the sign on the blacktop outside.
   "If a person is very hungry, do we ask him about his religion? Do we ask him or her about her color? Do we ask about their gender?" Imam Chebli asked. "No!" the children answered to each question.
   Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen follows a similar philosophy, said Scott Smith, an employee of the soup kitchen who spoke to the children. Mr. Smith said the soup kitchen provided 92,000 meals in 2002 to hungry people, regardless of religion, race or gender.
   "We don’t care who walks in the door," Mr. Smith said.
   Mr. Smith said he began working at Elijah’s Promise three years ago after spending six months without a home. Mr. Smith said caring for those in need is crucial because job loss could make anyone poor and homeless.
   Seemingly an unlikely candidate for living on the street, Mr. Smith once realized a lifelong dream by getting a secure job as a police officer, he said. After seven years on the force, a job related injury prevented him from ever working in law enforcement again.
   Mr. Smith said the children’s gifts were especially important, given that New Jersey’s cities have some of the highest poverty rates in the nation. He said 295,000 school-age children live in poverty in New Jersey.
   According to Census figures, poverty, for a person 18 to 65 years old, is defined as surviving on $9,359 or less a year.
   Regardless of economic conditions, giving to those in need is one of the five pillars of Islam, said Saffet Cadovic, who teaches at Noor-ul-Iman. Muslims are obligated to give 2.5 percent of their disposable income to the poor annually and are encouraged to share more, Mr. Cadovic said.
   Students said the food drive reflected their religious commitment to charity.
   "Helping people is a huge part of what we believe in," said 10th-grader Luqman Abdullah. "We believe in brotherhood and that everyone is our brother and we have to look out for our brothers and sisters."