Community News (V13-I1)

Imam Enrique Rasheed to speak Florida Governor’s Inaugural Prayer Breakfast

JACKSONVILLE,FL–Imam Enrique Rasheed, ima of the Jacksonville Masjid of Al-Islam, will deliver special remarks and a prayer at the Inaugural Prayer Breakfast for Florida Governor-elect Rick Scott.
The event, which will feature Watergate figure Chuck Colson, is hosted by Pam Olson, Pastor Guillermo Maldonado, Pastor Kirt AndersonRabbi Moshe Scheiner, Bishop Frank J. Dewane, Bishop Vaugh McLaughlin and Rasheed. It will take place on the morning of January 4, the day Scott will be sworn in as governor.

Rasheed, who leads a center on Jacksonville’s Westside, is well known locally for his interfaith efforts.

Atlantic City Masjid’s coat drive a huge success

ATLANTIC CITY,NJ–Muslims in Atlantic City area held a hugely successful coat drive to help the needy in the cold weather. The Masjif Muhammad and the Islamic Cultural Centre collected over 200 coats at their inaugural drive.

“We had a greater response than we anticipated,” Masjid Muhammad President Kaleem Shabazz said in an interview to the Press of Atlantic City.

According to mosque officials many of the coats were new and had tags on them.

“When you help people, you want to help them and make sure they’re dignified,” Shabazz said, adding that congregation members felt especially good about distributing new coats.
“It’s not like they’re getting something somebody else doesn’t want,” he said.

Muslims join interfaith group to help the needy

SALT LAKE CITY,UT–Muslim vounteers joined Christians & Jews in Salt Lake City to help the needy this holiday season. They put together hundreds of boxes containing food and clothing for delivery throughout the area.

The event was organized by the Shalom Salaam Tikkun Olam Organization which means peace and repair the world.

Deborah Milan-Niler, with the Shalom Salaam Tikkun Olam Organization said, “The volunteers have been just fabulous working together tirelessly and especially coming down on Christmas Eve.”

Demand rises for Halal meals on wheels

MISSISSAUGA, CANADA–The halal consumer market is not just about profits. It is also about serving the needs of a growing population. This revelation came into the open when a local agency in Canadian city of Mississauga reported that it is increasingly receiving requests for halal meals from area hospitals. The Meals on Wheels program which serves the Peel region providing meals for those who can’t buy or prepare their food says that there has been a spike in requests in the recent past.

“We found out that hospitals have seen a huge increase in demand for Halal meals; almost 30 per cent of people have requested them at the hospital,” said Lloys Townsend who delivers meals for the program in an interview to the Mississauga News.

The Greater Toronto Area has a population of more than 400,000 Muslims and Mississauga is home to many of them. Their numbers are expected to rise and with them new challenges as the population ages.

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