'Get hungry for change'
Muslim Students Association Fast-a-thon raises money for Winnipeg Harvest
On Nov. 21, the Muslim Students Association at the University of Manitoba will be providing the opportunity for all students to experience the virtues of fasting, regardless of religious beliefs.
Along with Muslim student groups across Canada, the MSA will host its first Ramadan Fast-a-thon with proceeds from the event going to Winnipeg Harvest. Along with the Ramadan food drive, the MSA is initiating this event not only to raise funds for charity but also to promote awareness about their group in the larger community.
Students signing up for the Fast-a-thon will give up food and drink on Nov. 21 from sunrise to sunset. Local companies will pledge at least a dollar for every student registered and the total amount raised will be given to Winnipeg Harvest. The participants will also be invited to a night-time feast in University Centre to break the fast.
Also during this month, the Ramadan food drive will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items. Half of these donations will be contributed to the university food drive and the others to the Manitoba Islam Association, who will distribute them to needy families.
Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims who traditionally fast from sunrise to sundown each day during this period, and break their fast with a evening meal. The aim of this tradition is to humble one's self by experiencing deprivation. As part of self-development, Muslims also try to increase their charity, prayers and good will during the holy month.
Shaheen Rana, organizer of the Fast-a-thon, explains the spiritual significance of charity during Ramadan.
"I think that most Muslins get really spiritual in Ramadan because we do believe in the hereafter and we say this is our time to double up on rewards," she said "One thing that you notice when you fast is that it humbles you in a way."
Because Fast-a-thon offers the chance for non-Muslims to experience fasting while producing funds for charity, many students have already decided to participate. Rana and other organizers are overwhelmed by the number of students who have signed up in their first week. Already more than 110 non-Muslim students will be sponsored by local businesses. That number already surpasses their initial estimates of 50-100 participants.
Nusraat Masood, the media relations executive on MSA is amazed with this turnout.
"I'm actually quite surprised by how well it's going. I like to see that people are actually into this and participating."
The donations raised by the Fast-a-thon and the Ramadan food drive also translate into a much-welcomed contribution to Winnipeg Harvest.
The food bank agency distributed over 6.8 million pounds of food last year to Winnipeg families, compared to 835,451 pounds in 1987, an increase attributed to a tremendous rise in volunteers and community events. At the last count in 2000, there were over 232 annual community events to support Winnipeg Harvest: a list the MSA Fast-a-thon has now joined.
Harvest supports approximately 37,000 Winnipeg residents each month. Clients are allowed to use the food bank once every two weeks and the food given to their household will be sufficient for one to three days. Winnipeg Harvest stresses that hunger is not a concept that applies only to Third World countries.
Rana believes this is why it is important for MSA to support this charity.
"Poverty isn't a far away issue; it's right here in Winnipeg as well. People should realize that and I think that we should support Winnipeg Harvest and other food banks as well."
Masood agrees: "I think it's a noble cause. I think it's something that all communities are just drawn towards."
Members of the MSA also hope that this event will connect the Muslim community with the community at large and help others form a clearer understanding of Islamic culture.
Rana believes that part of the success of Fast-a-thon is how it exposes MSA to the larger campus.
"This just shows that [despite] all the bad things that have been portrayed about Islam, our religion does tell us to be charitable and to help others, whether Muslim or not Muslim," she said. "I think that it's about time that we do stuff like this and put ourselves out in the community and help others."
Masood agrees that the ties public events like Fast-a-thon build between minority groups and the campus community are an important.
"I think it's a lot about exposure. I think people fear or think less of societies and groups of people that they don't have contact with," she said. "When you do events like this, people have a chance to share a meal with us and they realize 'Oh my goodness they don't all have accents ... some of the actually grew-up here! They have homes, they have cars, and they go to university'," she adds with mock astonishment.
The Fast-a-thon sign-up booth will be set up once again from Nov. 17-21 in University Centre. Inquiries can also be made at the Muslim Students Association office in Room 119 in the Helen Glass Building.