No Home Doesn’t Mean No Dinner

Islamic Relief USA shares a Ramadan tradition with our neighbors in Washington, D.C.

A Powerful Tradition

For the last four years, a group of volunteers have been showing up to Franklin Square Park in Washington, D.C., to break their fast with the local population who happen to be homeless.

What do we mean by ‘with’ the local population? The Islamic Relief USA community has taken a number of opportunities to provide meals for the homeless, but rarely do we take the time to sit down, have a meal, and just kick back and spend time with them.

Starting with the Heart

In Ramadan 2019, Islamic Relief USA decided to put heartfelt compassion into action. Every Tuesday, a group of staff and volunteers picked up around 100 packages of food and transported them to Franklin Square Park right around sunset (maghrib prayer time), to have dinner with the local people we aim to serve.

The goal of this gathering was to give out dinners (at around the same time that Muslims are sharing meals to break their daily Ramadan fasting) that any of us would want to have. The meals weren’t just sandwiches, but the good stuff: baked chicken, biryani, burgers, and more!

Blessings Shared

We want to be able to share the joys we have during Ramadan with those that don’t regularly experience such joys. That’s the true spirit of the Ramadan season. Alhamdulillah, Islamic Relief USA was able to bring that joy to hundreds of our fellow neighbors in Washington, D.C., this past 2019 Ramadan.