Muslims in Action- Ar-Razzaq Food Bank Sacramento Fundraiser
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Sacramento, California Muslim community is blessed with a number of organizations that cater to the needs of our growing presence. One of these is the Ar-Razzaq Food Bank (ar-razzaqfoodbank.org) which has been active for about nine years now and has been slowly and steadily gaining ground in its activities.
The mission statement of the organization is “to assist the impoverished individuals and families in the Northern California community, particularly the Muslims in greater Sacramento area. Our goal is to judiciously distribute food to the needy in our community and also extend a helping hand to the community at large if our resources permit.”
With support from Sacramento Muslims, this organization which may have started out seeking to assist the struggling and less fortunate amongst area Muslims locally, now reaches out to the mainstream communities who are in need in California’s capital city. Poverty, homelessness and people in need do not have a specific religion and we are all in this together. And since any effort of this nature requires resources to operate, Ar-Razzaq held its Second Annual Fundraiser at the SALAM Community Center on Saturday, February 18, 2018, which this report focuses on.
The well-attended event started after Magrib prayers with Sister Durriya Syed inviting two area youth, Tuaha and Zaid for the recitation from the Holy Qur’an and its English translation. This was followed by a very informative speech by Sister Sarah Anwar, President of the Ar-Razzaq Food Bank. She started off with official words of welcome on behalf of the organization and thanking Allah (SWT) for making this event possible. She also introduced individual team members of the Ar-Razzaq Food Bank and thanked all the volunteers, young and old, for their help. She also thanked SALAM for providing this venue for the fundraiser, plus Brothers Anjum and Farrukh Saeed and their families for their continued support along with a host of others for their help both with their donations and their time. She added that Ar-Razzaq Food bank belongs to the entire greater Sacramento community.
Sister Durriya Syed, the Community Outreach Coordinator for the organization, spoke next. She proceeded to share “Our Story” about how the Ar-Razzaq Food Bank came into being. She said that it all started from SALAM and that it is an honor to be here. She recognized Sister Suzana Malik for always supporting this effort. She added that it all started with a decision to support the local community and a request for food donations.
Sister Suzana spoke next and elaborated on this journey which started in the year 2009 when the organization opened its doors. It started with handing out care packages in local Mosques and a very low budget. Fast forward to 2018, the services have expanded as Ar-Razzaq Food Bank stretches the donated dollars as best as they can by hunting for good deals. Additional programs such as Neighbor Outreach, supporting the local Habitat for Humanity, donations to the Red Cross (for the Napa fire victims) were just some of the examples given.
Speaking on the occasion, representatives of various local organizations including Casey Knittle (Mustard Seed School), Mia Wheeler (WIND Youth), Usama Khalid (REDA and COSVIO Education Committee) and Saifuddin Mateen from Masjid Ibrahim all spoke very highly of Ar-Razzaq Food Bank and how they much they valued their relationship with the organization. Volunteer Coordinator Sister Sarah Ahmad also spoke briefly on the tasks done at Ar-Razzaq Food Bank and how they are accomplished (food acquisition, handling, storage and distribution) by volunteers from all over the Sacramento area, adults and kids alike. Sister Suzana returned to share fiscal details of the food bank (budget and expenditure) setting the stage for a request for donations.
Imam Azeez of the Tarbiya Institute very capably conducted the fundraiser. As always, one comes away learning a few things more when he imparts his wisdom. This time he focused on how dreams are only fulfilled when people make them a reality and how benefitting the entire community through sharing one’s good fortune and income is part and parcel of our Islamic faith. But Imam Azeez did stress that the income must be acquired from a Halal (honest) effort. He also added that we can all agree that Ar-Razzaq Food Bank has made us proud over many years now and deserves our support. And his request certainly resonated with those in attendance as close to $50,000 were raised at the event.
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