Houstonian Corner (V10-I32)

ICNA-Houston Relief Team Organized Community BBQ in Third Ward Houston

“Why are these gentlemen kneeling down and then putting their foreheads on the ground”: A youthful girl asked this question about the men establishing the Muslims afternoon Zuhar prayers at the Islamic Circle of North America Houston Chapter (ICNA-Houston) ICNA-Relief Community BBQ Program, organized to meet with the Neighbors in the Third Ward area around IH-45 South and Scott. In this part of town, ICNA-Relief has two pieces of lots, which were bought to set-up a human services center. Due to restrictions in the City Ordinance for this area, this services center has not yet been started. However in the mean time ICNA-Houston Relief Team has organized this, the Thirteenth Community BBQ. When this young girl was informed about the five times daily prayers, she felt good about it and said: “That is cool”.

Volunteers of ICNA-Houston went door to door to homes around their land to three blocks, handing out flyers inviting neighbors to come and join in for the BBQ. The response was quite good, as many came to enjoy the food and had light conversation. Many asked about future plans of ICNA Relief in the area.

Last time when ICNA-Houston did this BBQ, a representative from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee came and awarded a certificate of congressional recognition.

ICNA-Houston Relief Team also organizes every Sunday in Downtown Houston at LaBranch and Pierce Feed-The-Hungry Program, for which food is either received from Muslim restaurants or is cooked at home, while some benevolent individuals donate money for this purpose.

At the eve of Ramadhan and throughout the month, ICNA Relief will be providing food items and other ration for the whole month to the less fortunate in the community. If someone wants this ration for themselves and/or some needy people plus if there are fortunate people out there in the community interested in participating in all of these Relief Programs by donating time, resources and money, they can contact Saad Ansari (son of Late Tosiq Ansari) at 281-537.8151 / 281.282.7010 or Javed Sayeed at 713.213.7979 or Umar Farooq at 713.253.4599 or send your contributions to: P.O. Box 572181, Houston, TX 77257-2181. One can also always visit www.icnarelief.org.

More Than Fifty Registered at the “Create A Miracle: Save A Life” Event at HSSF

“My 13 years old daughter Samiah was diagnosed with a rare type of Aplastic Anemia 2 years ago. Her details can be found at http://www.samiahssaviors.com/ Today we are having this event not only to miraculously find something rare for my daughter, but this is also to bring forth a very important matter relevant to the healthcare of our South Asian community. Every year, many South Asian families face a very serious dilemma owing to a loved one suffering from a life threatening disease, such as Leukemia. For many of the patients, their diseases could be treated and cured with a bone marrow or blood stem cell transplant – if a matching donor is found and that is what we are looking for Samiah as well as hundreds of other people, since you can see the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center Staff with us.

"More than seven million people have registered to be donors in the United States. However, minorities, including Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans combined make up less than 2% of the donors. There is an urgent and pressing need for more donors from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, particularly within the South Asian communities like ours. Since a matching donor is most likely to be found within a person’s racial or ethnic community, participation by all communities including South Asian is extremely crucial and urgent. Every day 3,000 people worldwide are hoping and praying to find a donor.

"For many of these patients, time is running out. Every life counts. Every donor counts. God has gifted bone marrow to everyone and modern therapeutic methods can indeed save lives with the Grace of God. Register today with the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) at http://www.nmdp.org/ and you can help the humanity in real need.”

These were the words of Amina Razak and Dr. Razaali Razak of Texas Children’s Pediatric Associates Cinco Ranch Katy, as they organized the Bone Marrow Registration Clinic at the Houston Shifa Clinic behind ISGH Synott Masjid this past Saturday. More than 50 people registered at this Clinic plus five persons offered new locations to organize similar clinics.

Volunteers present on the occasion included Dr. Rizwan Naeem of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani-Descent of North America (APPNA), Dr. Shahzad Hashim from Woodlands, Salim Savani, Ashish Chitale, Amina Razak, and Maha Farooqi. Staff of the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center included Angela Ramirez and Hope Guidry-Groves (Phone: 713-791-6364).

“We are looking for hundreds of people from our community to register. For more information, visit http://www.samiahssaviors.com/ or call my wife Amina at 281-782-5430”: Added Dr. Razak.

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