New Brunswick Islamic Center Packages Food For The Hungry

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — (Written by Humza Syed, a sophomore at South Brunswick High School) Hunger is the harsh reality that nearly fifty million people in America alone do not know where their next meal will come from. Since the first MLK day was observed in 1987, the national holiday has been traditionally associated with giving to those in need through acts of community service.

This year the holiday was observed at the New Brunswick Islamic Center (NBIC) in the form a Day of Service which was attended by over a hundred volunteers from all ethnicities, religion and age groups, along with lead representatives from Governor Elect Phil Murphy’s office, Azra Baig and A.J. Stewart and Middlesex County Freeholders Shanti Narra and Charles Kenny. The event marked the Inaugural day for the 2018 Murphy-Oliver administration.

The event was organized and sponsored by a community based organization HUDA, a part of NBIC, in conjunction with Muslims Against Hunger. Hosted at the NBIC facility, the event saw over 100 volunteers join hands in making over 3000 non-perishable and 300 perishable plant-based food packages in within an hour, which were then distributed to Elijah’s Promise, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and needy families in New Brunswick.

The HUDA initiative at NBIC strives to mobilize the community at large in events such as today’s Day of Service all year round. Muslims Against Hunger, an organization founded by Zamir Hassan, works with various communities within the US to bring people of all backgrounds together to fight against hunger and poverty.

“It’s really about engaging people to get involved and building volunteer communities,” he tells his eager audience.

Each of the bags distributed to impoverished individuals contains ten meals, providing a month’s supply of clean and healthy food. During the event, several volunteers vocalized their feelings of inspiration and content. Freeholder Kenny mentioned “[hunger] affects so much more than those who we can see,” expressing his desire for increased awareness and activity surrounding this growing socioeconomic issue. One volunteer expressed the importance of increasing awareness of the effects of poverty and hunger within the communities and that of holding such events in an effort to eradicate them.

One young volunteer from North Brunswick called the event ‘inspiring’ while another middle school volunteer from Montgomery called it ‘fun’. The volunteers ranged from 3 yrs of age to 73. Muslims Against Hunger aims for such diverse bodies to get involved in the fight against hunger and poverty.

The diversity of volunteers demonstrated that the communities within the state of New Jersey can work cohesively to fight against hunger and combat poverty. NBIC looks to the future with hope that “we can stretch even further by creating sustainable models and solutions for communities to the point that they don't need to have a "Days of Service" anymore. We can't just stop working at this level. Our collective dream should be that one day we shift the landscape and eradicate poverty and hunger. This can only be done if we help to develop solutions that empower communities and break cycles of poverty.” These communities honor the work of Martin Luther King Jr. by following in his footsteps: They help themselves by helping others.