DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — After a nightly iftar meal with family members breaking fast together during Ramadan, Nadine Daoud noticed full pots and trays of untouched leftover food lining the shelves of her grandmother's refrigerator. Too often, she felt the food was quickly forgotten and then wasted.
The observations inspired her 2017 creation of The Helping Handzzz Foundation that brings volunteers together each year during the Islamic holy month . They round up spare food from families in Dearborn — where nearly half the 110,000 residents are of Arab descent — and bring it to people without homes in neighboring Detroit. Daoud said the group's efforts are emblematic of Islam's emphasis on respecting and valuing resources such as food and matches Ramadan's focus on “self-discipline and empathy toward those less fortunate.
” “Every family cooks a lot of food to end the night when you’re breaking your fast,” Daoud said. “And a lot of food gets left over. And we noticed that a lot of this food was just getting stored in the fridge and forgotten about the next day.
“What I decided to do was instead of sticking it in the fridge and forgetting about it or throwing it in the trash, I said, ‘Let me take it. I always see people on the corners. Let me help out and give it to them instead with a drink and a nice treat on the side.
’" One recent night, Helping Handzzz board members Hussein Sareini and Daoud Wehbi and four others enjoyed an iftar prepared by Sareini’s.
