As school start opening up around the country, many parents and guardians spend hundreds on dollars on school supplies. Glue sticks, pencils, crayons, book bags, paper, binders, the list keeps getting longer every year.
Often for those in underprivileged neighborhoods and in situations of poverty in the suburbs, this is added expense that many can just not afford.
A quality backpack filled with new supplies can help a young student make the best of harsh circumstances, give them the tools and the confidence they need to survive a school year.
Several Muslim organizations and Muslim owned business as well as individual fundraising efforts took place in the month of August and are planned for the month of September around the DC Metro.
10th Annual Back to School Backpack Giveaway was held in the green oasis in the middle of West Baltimore neighborhood at Warwick Park. Hundreds of people gathered at the park to enjoy a family picnic with food, bouncers, free haircuts and free backpacks and supplies. There was a booth set up for voters registration.
Marilyn Mosby and Nick Mosby , Maryland State Attorney and her husband Councilman Nick Mosby attended the vent. Nick Mosby has recently announced that he is considering running for the mayor of Baltimore.
Bilal Ali is the community liaison for the state attorney, Marilyn Mosby office in Baltimore. He has been organizing annual backpack giveaway for 10 years. He was excited to see his “Islamic” family here, in a place where he grew up in. He no longer lives here but was raised in “There are families here who have been left behind socially and economically and there was a need to make sure that these kids have school supplies,” Housing is an issue. Several years ago , Ali says, Warwick Park was neglected and overgrown, essentially a vacant lot. He and several community partner convinced the then mayor to turn it into a park with basketball court. The kids didn't have a spot to play, now families have a spot to walk around and play and he says this has changed the character of the neighborhood. “This convinced people that they is their community and we cannot wait around for the politician to fix anything, They are not our solution, some of them the problem. He said he was here representing the Islamic community so people understand that we are all in this together.
“Mad respect for Brother Bilal Ali who is always giving back to the community in a real way. Today in Southwest Baltimore the press was not present to write about the dozen of kids, families, community leaders, and elected officials from across Baltimore who came out to Warwick Park to participate in a Back to School celebration that included hundreds of free back bags, free haircuts, and free food. Our community continues the tradition celebrating, aiding, and encouraging the academic success of our children in anyway we can,” shared Kinji Scott.
Zakat Foundation of America volunteers were there with supplies and 150 sturdy backpacks for students. Sisters from Masjid Baitullah came to receive some supplies for their children. Similar giveaways are planned in two locations in DC and at the MSSA Resources for A Better Tommorrow on September 12, 2015 outside Masjid al Haqq.
Tammy Goldstone grew up in the community “All young people deserve a chance. No on asked to born or put into poverty,” she told the Muslim Link. She thought that different organizations joining together to help out make this a successful event.
Dawan is headed to high school. He received a new haircut courtesy of the organizers. He wants to go to college and thinks that more people should be helping out in the school. He thinks if teachers weren’t so strict and harsh then more kids would want to stay in school.
Sonya is a nursing student in Baltimore. She has three children and between rent and groceries, buying supplies and back to school clothes and shoes for three kids was a tough proposition. Her kids want to grow up to be doctors and engineers.
Darlene D Wright was with bike community in Columbia, MD she was here with her motorcycle club giving back to the communities that surround her city “That's what it about— doing or others like you want for yourself,” she said.. They had brought backpacks loaded with supplies for the children.
Zainab Chaudry of CAIR-MD was also at the Warwick Park event. She had previously raised $3,000 in an online campaign to buy back-to-school supplies for children in the Sandtown/Winchester neighborhood of Freddie Gray, the man whose death in police custody and sparked the Baltimore riots. “Children can only work with what they have, and too often that's not much. I met and spoke to many who came out,” she says.
ICNA held a similar giveaway at the ICNA masjid in Alexandria, VA and in collaboration with the Muslim American Society at the MAS Center in the same city.
Have a great school year.