Hamilton charity gives boxes of food to hundreds of families for Ramadan

Justin Chandler · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: March 10

The period of Ramadan mightiness get a small easier for hundreds of local families who received nutrient donations from a Hamilton foundation this weekend. 

Mishka Social Services, which focuses connected supporting the Muslim community, partnered with non-profit Muslim Hands Canada and Mountain market store Eastern Food Market to administer boxes to families successful request connected Saturday and Sunday. They estimated they served astir 600 families. 

"These nutrient hampers springiness families a consciousness of dignity and enactment during a clip erstwhile expenses are precocious and resources are limited," said Marwa Farghaly, an enforcement adjunct with Mishka. 

"Food is simply a basal quality close and together, we tin marque definite that nary 1 successful our assemblage goes hungry, particularly astatine this clip of year." 

For galore Muslims, Ramadan is simply a clip of charity, but for those struggling to marque ends meet, things mightiness consciousness "even harder," said Maryam Qader, Mishka's unpaid engagement co-ordinator. 

Mishka provides regular nutrient assistance passim the year, though it's ne'er given to truthful galore radical astatine once. "The request is there," Qader said. 

The enactment offers a warrant that nutrient volition beryllium culturally appropriate.

For example, Qader said, it makes definite nutrient is halal. Food hampers packed this play included lentils, rice, canned tomatoes, sugar, salt, oils and spices. 

Starting astir 7 a.m. ET connected Saturday, volunteers met astatine the Hamilton Downtown Mosque, wherever they unloaded a motortruck afloat of supplies. Working similar an assembly line, radical acceptable up boxes and filled them to go.

Qader said astir 30 to 40 assemblage members volunteered successful effect to a call-out.

"It's been precise exciting," she said, adding the mosque's assemblage hallway became "very noisy" arsenic radical got to cognize 1 different passim the day.

Families who picked up nutrient boxes showed "a batch of excitement," she said, adding the anticipation is they tin marque a fewer meals with what they received.

Newcomers and immigrants often get with fewer resources than they person to woody with the pressures of uncovering enactment and lodging successful an unfamiliar place, Farghaly said. "I person seen archetypal manus however hard it is."

Local nutrient providers person told CBC Hamilton nutrient slope usage is widening and much radical are accessing them for the archetypal time. 

Anecdotally, Farghaly said, she's seen the fig of radical requesting assistance from Mishka summation successful the twelvemonth she's worked there.

With that successful mind, she said, she's "feeling great" astir what Mishka was capable to execute this weekend. 

"Thank you to everyone who has contributed." 

WATCH | How Muslim communities crossed the GTA are marking Ramadan: