Muslim-operated food bank helps families fill the gaps

The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began Monday. Among many things, it is a time when Muslims are called to practice charity, or zakat, to the needy at the same time they practice fasting during daylight hours.

In the Valley and in 17 major U.S. cities today, the national Islamic Relief Foundation is hosting the Day of Dignity “to give Muslims an opportunity to fulfill their Ramadan obligation to help the needy.”

The Cultural Cup Food Bank, a Muslim-operated food bank in Phoenix, is leading the Day of Dignity effort, which actually began Friday and runs through Sunday, intentionally bridging the three days in order to be an interfaith project that can better involve Christians, Jews and Muslims whose weekend days of worship vary.

The main activities will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today  at the Human Services Campus, 1125 W. Jackson St., Phoenix, when more than 200 volunteers will distribute food, clothing, hygiene items and toys. There will be health screenings for those in need. “It brings people from different faiths and backgrounds together in a common effort to relieve the suffering of those in need,” said Zarinah Awad, founder and director of the Cultural Cup.

Awad started the food bank in her home in 2003. “I knew a lot of families, Muslim families, and immigrant Muslims that needed help with food, so I started this out of my home,” Awad said. Some of the economic problems, she said, were related to a backlash toward Muslims in wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America.

Her efforts snowballed, and she secured a small building in downtown Phoenix from which to dispense food and clothing. Then it moved into a larger building at 537 E. Osborn Road, where it barely has enough space for a food pantry, offices and a Saturday wellness clinic.

Few know a Muslim food bank exists, Awad acknowledged. There may even be the stereotype that Muslims take care of their own needy, as is especially seen in such faiths as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Muslims are just like anybody else,” she said. “We live here in the United States, and we are suffering with the economy like anybody else. It is affecting us, too.” She said Muslim refugees arrive in the Valley and may have great difficulty finding jobs.

“A lot of them are farmers who come here, and they don’t know how to do some of the things that we expect them to get into as soon as they get here ... so we help them out with food, housing and every other thing,” said Awad, 60, who has four grown children.

Raised Roman Catholic in Berkeley, Calif., as Frances Marie Dromgoole, Awad said she was someone who always had lots of questions, but was told by her mother not to question her Catholic faith. “I didn’t really understand it. I wanted to know about God, and there were questions when I was sitting in the services,” she said. “They never had anyone who looked like me. I could never relate.”

In time, she would explore the Baptist faith and Buddhism. During her 20s, she worked in a radio station in San Diego, Calif., hosted a show with entertainers and scholars, and gained many contacts in the music and entertainment industry. She would serve as mistress of ceremonies for bands like Earth, Wind and Fire and party with such celebrities as comedian Richard Pryor. “It was very exciting, but a lot of bad lifestyle,” Awad said.

When she came across an Islamic newspaper, she read it and went deeper into its beliefs. Awad decided to convert in 1977 and to actively practice Islam, including visiting Muslims in prisons. In the mid-1990s, she met and married a Muslim man, who soon wanted to return to his roots in Kenya and Somalia. The family went with him. But after six months, she said, she found the culture, language and economy too much to handle. “We found it was just very difficult” and “we really couldn’t survive there,” she said, noting she also had health issues living in Somalia.

“I came back here with my family because he (her husband) refused to return back here,” she said. “I decided we needed to come home and start all over again here in America.” They settled in Phoenix partly because it had a strong Somali community. She said it felt like being Somali refugees.

“They helped me get temporary housing in the Somali village off Black Canyon Highway in Phoenix,” she said. Awad said she encountered problems getting food boxes, including foods acceptable to the Muslim diet. They must be “halal,” or permissible, including meat from animals properly slaughtered according to Islamic law. Pork is forbidden.

Awad said when she sought food boxes from agencies, she found it “not geared for everybody. Someone basically said to me, 'Beggars can’t be choosers — take what you get.’ ”

“People should not have to go through this just because you need help,” Awad said.

In its five years, the Cup of Culture has established itself as a food bank that helps about 300 families a week. The St. Mary’s Food Bank provides two deliveries weekly, with grocery chains and food drives supplying much of the rest. At several points each week, “we are totally out of food,” Awad said. She estimates about 20 percent of families served are Muslims. So far, the operation has not received United Way allocations, but it has developed strong support in the social services network to meet some of its needs.

“I like helping people out,” said Tabib Baraka, a volunteer for 2 1/2 years at the food bank. He said he finds families “feeling good about themselves” after going home with groceries. “It is one way people feel good. When they get a package, they say, 'God bless you.’ People have tears in their eyes,” he said.

The food bank’s volunteer chairman, who goes simply by Mini’imah, said Awad has worked hard to start the food bank from scratch and is now developing grant proposals and working on building designs for a larger center if funding can be found.

“I do wardrobes for women for job interviews, and when they come back, they let us know that they have been successful in their job interviews,” said Mini’imah, who has done community work for 44 years.

Job training, finding house goods and directing people to other social services are other efforts offered at the Cultural Cup, she said. “We have to show people why we are here,” Awad said. “We do it because we want to help.”

IF YOU GO

What: Day of Dignity, distribution of food, clothing, toys, hygiene items and health screenings

When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6 at Human Services Campus, 1125 W. Jackson St., Phoenix; and women/children activities, including arts and crafts, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7 at Watkins Overflow Shelter, 1120 W. Watkins St., Phoenix

Cost: Free

Information: The Cultural Cup Food Bank, (602) 266-8370, or www.culturalcup.com