LAWRENCE: Muslims Against Hunger join soup kitchen effort

By Reem Nasr, Staff Writer
    The Community Alliance for Peace, along with the Muslims Against Hunger Project, hosted a successful fundraiser, raising $30,000 for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK).
    The fundraiser dinner was held at the Passage to India restaurant in Lawrenceville on Aug. 16. Several TASK board members and local prominent Muslims from the Mercer County area attended the event. The program began at 6 p.m. with a moment of silence and a short prayer by WW-P High School student Zahid Syed, also one of the organizers.
    Founder of Muslims Against Hunger, Zamir Hassan gave the keynote address and “implored upon the Muslim community to get involved in projects such as TASK.” He was followed by the executive director of TASK, Dennis Micai, who spoke about the effort to feed the hungry in the greater Trenton area.
    “Charity is one of the pillars of Islam,” said Mr. Hassan. “Helping the poor is a tradition as well as an obligation for every Muslim.”
    Mr. Hassan became involved in education about hunger, poverty, and homelessness in local communities after a visit to a soup kitchen with his son’s school. He was shocked about the number of people who showed up at the kitchen in a relatively wealthy area. It inspired him to found the grassroots organization in 2005. Now Mr. Hassan engages in training and education programs to help other chapters open up. Currently, the program is running soup kitchen projects in seven states and possibly one in Toronto, Canada.
    “We need to educate our community about helping those in our local areas as well as sending checks abroad,” said Mr. Hassan.
    Now the organization has a campaign to celebrate the Islamic month of Ramadan. Called Faiths in Action for Common Cause, the campaign aims at distributing 3,000 meals within the 30 days of the month. Volunteers from all faiths can join together at various soup kitchens to help reach the goal.
    On Sept. 9, the soup kitchen project will be held in Trenton at TASK. More than 20 volunteers will start preparing meals around 10 a.m. and serve them until 1 p.m. To register for this project, e-mail Mr. Hassan at [email protected].
    “The fundraiser provided a good interaction with TASK,” said Mr. Hassan. “I look forward to working with them.”
    The Trenton Area Soup Kitchen was founded in the 1980’s. In 1991, TASK moved into its own facility on Escher Street, called the Gilman-Stanley Building. The charitable, nonprofit organization aims to “provide meals to all who are hungry, provide services to encourage self-sufficiency and improve quality of life, inform the wider community of the needs of the hungry, and to advocate for resources to meet these needs.” To learn more about TASK, visit www.trentonsoupkitchenorg.
    For more information about the Muslims Against Hunger Project, visit www.muslimsagainsthungerusa.org.