كندا: الجمعيات الخيرية تتبرع لبرنامج التغذية الطلابي

خبر من مصادر إنجليزية.

في لفتة طيبة تحمل معاني المساهمة الإيجابية للمسلمين بمجتمع مدينة "تورنتو" الكندية؛ حيث يُشكِّل المسلمون 10%، تبرع مركز الخدمات الاجتماعية الإسلامي بمبلغ 30 ألف دولار لدعم برنامج التغذية الطلابي عام 2015 لعدد 14 مدرسة؛ مما يحقق الفائدة لنحو 4500 طالب من طلاب المناطق ذات الأوضاع الاقتصادية المنخفضة.

وتتميز الجمعيات الخيرية الإسلامية بتاريخ من المساعدات الخيرية، من أبرزها مشروع "رمضان 30"، الذي كان يستهدف جمع التبرعات خلال شهر رمضان يوميًّا، وجمع 250 ألف دولار خلال 3 سنوات، ساعدت العديد من بنوك الطعام المحلية. المصدر: شبكة الألوكة.

يُرجى الإشارة إلى المصدر عند نقل الخبر – شبكة الألوكة.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

Toronto Muslim charities look to give back locally

The student nutrition program has been operating in schools across the Toronto District School Board since 1999. By next year, the program, run by the charitable arm of the TDSB, will feed kids breakfast, snack or lunch in almost a thousand schools across the city. This year, the Muslim Welfare Centre will fund the programs in 14 schools in the city’s least affluent neighbourhoods, including Malvern, Thorncliffe Park and Regent Park. Their donation of $30,000 will feed more than 4,500 students, according to Catherine Parsonage, executive director of the TFSS.

“It’s the difference between kids having fresh fruit or milk,” said Parsonage. “The money allows the schools to buy the food they are short on,” she said.

Traditionally, Muslims, who consider charity a fundamental part of their faith, have looked overseas to support charitable initiatives — often in their country of origin. But the Muslim Welfare Centre’s involvement in local programs is forcing attitudes within the community to change. The charity is the first Muslim organization to partner with the student nutrition program, according to Parsonage. And as more donors look to give back locally, Muslim Welfare’s initiatives are encouraging other charities to follow suit.

Quite simply, it comes down to demographics, says Ziyaad Mia, a Toronto-based lawyer who spearheaded Ramadan 30, an initiative focused on raising donations for food banks during the Islamic month of Ramadan.

“Toronto has 10 per cent Muslims, and in the hard-hit areas of the city, a lot of the people are Muslims,” said Mia, whose campaign has raised nearly $250,000 in three years, and funds foods banks all across the country.