Texas Islamic Center Celebrates Thirty Years With First Member Convention As It Continues Hunger Prevention Commitment With Muslims Giving Back Food Truck Launch
New York-based non-profit, Muslims Giving Back, has teamed up with the Islamic Center of Irving (ICI), to start a location in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, as it expands its initiative across the U.S.
The Islamic Center of Irving (ICI), which is celebrating its achievements with its first annual Member Convention and Dinner later today, will use the occasion to officially welcome national non-profit Muslims Giving Back (MGB), whose Dallas food truck is slated to start feeding those in need.
During the event, ICI, which is celebrating three decades of community service with members, stakeholders, donors and volunteers, will also be focusing on its long-time commitment to hunger prevention. Yasir Arafat, Former ICI Vice President, said their existing program with the North Texas Food Bank, was recently extended for six months.
“Every second Friday of the month, the North Texas Food Bank truck comes to ICI and has brought about 20,000 pounds of food each trip,” he said. “The meals are free of cost to ICI because the food is being provided by North Texas Food Bank… My long-term passion is if we can sort of expand our programs and bring more partnerships in, in fighting hunger and food insecurity.”
It’s hoped the partnership with the NY-based nonprofit, MGB, will do just that. Founded by Mohamed Bahe in 2013, the idea came from a desire to address the issue of stagnating services for those who were struggling to feed their families. The mobile food truck itself came into fruition in October 2020, when the pandemic began.
Pictured: Mohamed Bahe“During COVID, we were extremely busy due to the shutdown, but the need for charity was even greater,” he said. “No one was delivering food to those in need anymore. And New York City is all about food trucks, so that’s when we came up with the idea to make our services mobile.”
With that service, MGB was able to deliver at least a quarter of a million meals all across New York City boroughs. More recently, for several days in a row, they gave free meals to survivors of the Bronx apartment fire.
Bahe said that he and his team are “so excited” that their work has reached the Dallas community. He said their goal is to have a truck in the top 10 largest cities in America. Next on their list are Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., which they hope to have established by Ramadan.
Pictured: Dr. Raed SbeitWelcoming the truck at ICI’s event, where it will begin delivering free, hot halal meals in the center’s parking lot, is local community leader, Dr. Raed Sbeit, who is also an MGB board member. He helped lead community efforts during COVID to deliver meals to hospitals, police stations, first responders and schools to thank them for their dedication.
“The Prophet Muhammad once said, ‘He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while his neighbor goes hungry,’” he said. “We cannot go to sleep knowing that there are people out there that are hungry. It is our responsibility to help them.”
Bahe told AMT that the truck has two purposes.
“The truck is not only such a great tool to show what Islam is about, which clears a lot of misconceptions, but it is also about action, about giving back,” he said.
He said the MGB motto is “One creator, one planet, one family.”
ICI’s Arafat said he wants their partnership with MGB to inspire more Muslims to give back to their communities.
“We want the Muslim community to get engaged more in fighting hunger,” he said. “We want them to be more engaged and help people who don’t have food security. Secondly, I think it will encourage our youth. You’ll be surprised at how many youths come to the North Texas Food Bank event and distribute food because this is something they love at such an early age. They start learning how to give back instead of just wanting everything for themselves.”
Local dignitaries attending ICI’s event include Irving City Council officials, local government representatives, Dallas County Commissioner Dr. Elba Garcia and Texas State Reps. Terry Meza and Julia Johnson. Special guests include ISNA President, Safaa Zarzour, with entertainment provided by comedian Jeremy McLellan and Children Entertainer Mstaqeem.
You can RSVP to the event here.
