Sabeel Food Pantry
Project Update

S. Farhat Quadri, Ph.D., Director of Community Services

By the Grace of God and the generous donations from the businesses, schools and individuals, Sabeel Pantry has been very active and busy since its inception almost 6 years ago in fulfilling its mission of “Reaching out to the Less Privileged”.

On behalf of Sabeel Pantry, I would like to thank every donor in general, and Panera Bread, Moghul- Bakery, 33rd Ward Alderman, Mr. Richard Mell’s office, Ziyad brothers and various schools and Islamic centers in particular for their continued support and donations of bakery products, variety of cereals, canned and packed processed food items for distribution. Recently, more businesses and whole sale distributors are being contacted to donate food products commonly consumed by Asian community at large. Response to participate in an extended program in my opinion is good, but it could have been better to serve the community who is in great need during the present economic conditions. We are in a process of starting two more distribution centers, one around Devon & California avenues in Chicago and another one in a northwest suburb to serve communities in and around metropolitan Chicago.

During the years of 2005 to 2008, Sabeel Pantry have served a total of 4,880 families either by giving the needed food items to community members who came to the Pantry located at 3031 W Belmont Ave in Chicago, or by volunteers personally delivering to certain families who do not have the means of transportation. Last year alone 1,336 families from metropolitan Chicago were the beneficiary of food distribution by the Pantry.

It is justifiable to note that, in addition to the generous donations of bakery products from above mentioned donors, Sabeel Pantry also received $965.00 in cash to stock up non-perishable foods for distribution and overall operation. We would also like to acknowledge the generosity of Kazi Publications in not only letting us use their space, but also in helping with managing the pantry. For that, we are thankful to Mr. Liaqat Ali, president of Kazi Publications. We are also thankful to the volunteers for their time, especially Mr. Bashir Raza.

In addition to the year around food distribution, keeping with the tradition started by Br. Kamran Memon, and continued by Dr. Jihad Shoshara, 600 Turkeys were distributed to the needy families of Emmit Till Academy in Chicago during Thanksgiving 2008 by the donation $5,957.00 received from 58 donors and remaining amount from IFANCA to cover total cost of $7,721.32 for Turkey drive alone.

May God bless the concerned community members for their support, and I request every one to be a part of this great cause and continue to support monetarily and volunteer your time for the Pantry to help our less privileged families of metropolitan Chicago.

Sabeel Food Pantry
Holds The First Annual Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
By Sr. Ayesha Faryal, a Sabeel Volunteer

Sabeel Food Pantry celebrating a successful year organized a luncheon for its volunteers on Sunday, December 5, 2004 at its center at 3031 West Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60618.

The Director of the Pantry Mr. Quadir Latifi commenced the program with an overview of its inception a year ago in October 2003. "A year later, the operations of the Sabeel Pantry have come a long way." Mr. Latifi owed the success of the Sabeel Pantry to the hard work of the volunteers who not only dedicated their time and efforts but also worked at grass root level to enlighten various communities in the Chicago land area. He talked about the first day of the Pantry when very few people visited to get food and he said "Marvelously, after a year the Sabeel Pantry serves hundreds of families every month in the Chicago land area." He also expressed his gratitude to all individuals, businesses and the schools for their contributions to the Pantry by donating cash, and food. He mentioned that the MCC Full Time School in Morton Grove, IL, Averros Academy in North Brook, IL, Muslim Society Inc. Sunday School in Glendale Heights, IL and Muslim Community Center of Chicago, IL conducted food drives during this Ramadan and donated hundreds of pounds of food to the pantry. He was thankful to the Panera Bread for their regular donation of the bread. He also thanked Kazi Publications to lend the use of their activity room to operate Sabeel Food Pantry.

Mr. Bashir Raza, the Manager of the Pantry gave a report on the daily operations of the Pantry. Pantry is opened Mondays and Thursdays from 10AM to 1PM. Individuals and families pick up food from the Pantry. Volunteers come and pick up Sabeel Packages and take to their communities for distribution.

Dr. Chaudry, President of the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council (IFANCA), the sponsor of the Sabeel Pantry Project, briefed the background and the purpose of the Sabeel Pantry project. "The pantry's mission is to reach out to the individuals and families who happened to be less fortunate irrespective of their religion, ethnic background or gender." Dr. Chaudry mentioned that the Pantry's operation would soon be expanded into different cities of the United States. He also reiterated that all donations received would be spent in the USA. IFANCA has provided seed money to start the project and will provide the bulk of management expenses.

Dr. Ejaz Rahim gave awards to the volunteers and donors. Sr. Aisha Faryal, a volunteer from Glen Ellyn, IL thanked the management of the Sabeel Pantry on behalf of all the volunteers, recipients and gave few valuable suggestions to improve the distribution of food among the needy families.

The conclusion of the program was an open house and a delectable lunch. Chopal Restaurant, Mrs. Tasneem Raza, Rimland Services NSP, and others donated the lunch items.