Summer Ramadan Food Drive (May 12, 2018)
The Ramadan Food Drive that took place in May was a very successful event. Over 600 needy families received food boxes. Each box contained food staples for a family of five for one month. There were also 2000 gifts for kids distributed with the boxes. Amazingly, we covered 39 zip codes across the Puget Sound!
A Special Thanks to the LDS Church!
MAPS-MCRC is extremely grateful to the LDS Church for their generous contribution towards the purchase of vans. They gave $28,000 for this cause. They also gave $14,000 in vouchers for MCRC to use in the production of food and other supplies for those who are experiencing homelessness from the stores run by LDS in the Seattle area. Thank you LDS Church!
Bel-Red CROP Walk for Hunger 2018 (Sept. 30, 2018)
MCRC along with several other faith organizations participated in the 2018 Bellevue Redmond CROP Walk for Hunger on Sunday Sept 30th.
Over 150 people participated in the walk. The walkers started from the First Congregation Church in Bellevue, made their way through the streets of downtown Bellevue through the Downtown Park and returned to the church.
The walk started at 1:30 pm following Dhuhr prayer at the Church. Walkers engaged in an energetic warm up activity before starting the walk.
There were a lot of fun activities prior to and following the walk. MCRC had a photo booth where people wrote a prayer for the hungry and took pictures that were uploaded to Instagram. There was a Henna booth manned by young MCRC volunteers that drew a lot of crowds. There was ice cream and several booths that highlighted the issue of hunger in the world.
There was a Halal Food Truck providing delicious Gyros and Shawarma sandwiches to walkers as they returned from the 2-mile walk.
It was wonderful to see communities and faith-based organizations coming together to bring attention to the issue of hunger both locally and worldwide.
25% of the funds raised during the walk went to local organizations, MAPS-MCRC and Seattle Tilth – that work on local hunger relief efforts. The remaining 75% went to organizations such as Islamic Relief to address issues of hunger worldwide.
We have uploaded a few pictures of the Hunger Walk on our Flickr page.
The Sophia Way Luncheon (Oct. 11, 2018)
MAPS-MCRC was a signature sponsor at the fund-raising banquet for the Sophia Way which is a key partner of MAPS-MCRC. The Sophia Way provides shelter for single women in the Greater Seattle area. In addition, MAPS-MCRC sponsored and provided 500 bags from an organization called “Kits for Peace”. Every attendee at the Sophia Way luncheon received a bag to either keep or give away to a person in need. Each Kits for Peace bag is a small reusable bag filled with basic items for the homeless and the needy along with a resource sheet with useful information on local resources where people in need can go to for assistance.
CAIR-WA "Humanitarian of the Year" Awarded to MAPS-MCRC Founder & CEO Sister Nickhath Sheriff (Oct. 13, 2018)
We are very proud to announce that, our very own, Sister Nickhath Sheriff (Founder and CEO of MAPS-MCRC) was awarded the CAIR-WA 2018 "Humanitarian of the Year" Award at the annual CAIR-WA Gala! We are very proud of Sister Nickhath's tireless work on behalf of the homeless in our community.
The Golden Times Event (Oct. 16, 2018)
The Golden Times Event for Senior Women on October 16th was a well-organized, fun-filled event attended by seniors of different nationalities, faiths, and walks of life. The theme of the event was Fall. The event began with a short, heart-warming prayer by Sister Sana Joy. The ice-breaker activity included introductions by the seniors and a brief description of the importance of Fall in their lives. Sister Luna introduced the style of intuitive painting, a technique which encouraged the seniors to employ their own instinct to paint and "free up their painting style" without worrying about the final outcome. The seniors also enjoyed participating in the game of ring toss and tried their hand at winning one of the many exciting prizes. The highlight of the event was Imam Mohamad Joban's short talk on how the Fall season relates to our daily life and the many meanings of Fall, such as change, the balance of life, and the importance of letting go. The event concluded with a delicious lunch for the seniors and with the volunteers encouraging the seniors to sign up for the next event, a potluck on December 10, 2018.
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