On Christmas Eve, members of The Muslim Center of Greater Princeton (MCGP) and South Brunswick Muslim Student Association (SBHS MSA) volunteered at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) to help feed the hungry.
TASK’s mission is to “feed those who are hungry in the Trenton area and offers programs to encourage self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life of its patrons,” according to information provided by Amal Ali, president of the SBHS MSA.
Over the past 10 years on Christmas Eve, MCGP members have volunteered their time to package around 400 meals for families in the Trenton area. This year, volunteering began at 10 a.m. on Dec. 24, with approximately 50 MCGP members and students arriving together to help provide meals for those who are hungry, and finished around 1 p.m., Ali said.
“We pray that the food serves as nourishment for our bodies, our minds and our souls, and those who serve it, those who eat it gather together in the highest of heavens,” MCGP religious leader Imam Adeyinka Mendes said in the statement.
Tasks included serving 400 trays of food to the hungry, assembling toothbrushes and toothpaste in packages, and creating packages with feminine hygiene products, Ali said.
“Volunteering for me is a way to help impact others lives for the better. It allows me to take into account the things I should be thankful for, like food, because some families have a harder time getting it,” said junior Abdallah Ahson, vice president of MSA.
SBHS MSA prides itself on volunteering in the community, and involving itself within the community.
Volunteer Zoya Khurram, a junior at South Brunswick High School, said, “Volunteering to me has become so much more than just a school requirement. Opportunities like this allow me to see the perspective and struggles of people from all different backgrounds. It has helped me become more connected in a community, and view the impact a bunch of individuals can make.”