Shepherds of Good Hope

In The Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious

Muslim youth exemplified the roots of Islam in charitably giving back to their Ottawa community. MAC Youth Give volunteers showed up early Saturday morning on December 5th, 2006 to help the Shepherds of Good Hope prepare and serve warm meals to Ottawa’s neediest.

The group of six volunteers, assisted by the generous staff of the Shepherds of Good Hope worked throughout the morning to prepare the meals. Volunteers chopped vegetables, made soup and sandwiches and arranged deserts that were then served.

At 12:00pm the centre’s doors opened and the clients filed in. Just an hour and a half later, when the doors had closed, the Shepherds of Good Hope along with the help of MAC Youth Give had served over 350 impoverished people a wholesome lunch.

This volunteer event only took a few hours but brought the perspective that even a few voluntary hours could make a significant and positive difference in other’s life. As MAC Youth Give strongly upholds the representation of the Great Deen of Islam and follows Prophet Mohammad PBUH, his dedicated companions leadership and with the help of Allah SWT Muslim youth can help support and spread the message of Islam one volunteer event at a time.

To find out more about volunteer events that MAC Youth Give will be organizing or participating in, please visit us at http://macyouthgive.blogspot.com/

Laila Adassi
MYG Committee Member

Alta Vista Reforestation Project

By: Marwa Ahmed

The Muslim community and the larger Ottawa community were united on Saturday October 15th, 2005, for the Alta Vista Reforestation Project. Despite unpleasant weather conditions, City Councillor Peter Hume's staff, MAC Youth Give, Ottawa’s Horticulturist Association, Hillcrest High School, Immaculata High School, Ridgemont High School and many others showed up to plant trees at the Kilborn Greenspace.

There was rain, mud, fog, and the October chill but spirits were high and nothing impeded this group. The project lasted two hours, beginning at nine in the morning and ending at eleven. Equipped with shovels and gloves this motivated group of roughly sixty volunteers planted approximately 150 trees. Truckload after truckload, volunteers unloaded trees and found them their new homes.

The group was given special thanks by Premier Dalton Mcginty’s brother, David Mcginty, Ottawa South City Councillor. He traded in his spit shine Gordon Rush dress shoes for pro-line rain boots, working side by side with the volunteers from various communities.

The Muslim Association of Canada, MAC, would like to encourage everyone to keep their eyes open for upcoming future events. Charles Lindbergh once asked this question, “How long can men thrive between walls of brick, walking on asphalt pavements, breathing the fumes of coal and of oil, growing, working, [and] dying, with hardly a thought of wind, and sky, and fields of grain, seeing only machine-made beauty, the mineral-like quality of life?” We need to take care of what we have and plant seeds for generations after ours. To find out more about volunteer events that MAC Youth Give will be organizing or participating in, please email us at MACYouthGive-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Remember we are the ambassadors of the great Deen of Islam, following the steps of the Prophet Mohammad PBUH and his dedicated companions. They managed, with Allah SWT's to help, support and spread the message of Islam all over the world. Volunteering may not seem like a big step to spreading Islam, but it certainly is better than no step at all. Let us unite and show everyone what Islam is really about!

Park Cleaning

By: Marwa Ahmed

August 21, 2005 was the first for this season’s volunteer event organized by the “MAC Youth Give” of the Ottawa Division. The Muslim Association Of Canada (MAC) is dedicated to giving back to the community, and that is what they did with great success. A group of volunteers met at Abraar School and traded in their weekend for gloves and garbage bags. At 8 a.m. sharp we began to assemble the park clean-up.

The area around Abraar School gradually became more sanitary and safe for the children in the community. The backfield, which includes a baseball diamond and swimming pool, and the front of the school, which includes the parking lot and basketball court, were left spotless. The area around the Boys ad Girls club was also cleaned.

Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "Allah is kind and likes kindness in all things." What better kindness is there other than those who help others without wanting anything in return? This just so happens to be the definition of “volunteering”.

MAC Youth Give will be holding events like this throughout the year. Committee members strongly encourage volunteers to show up to these events and lend a helping hand. I end by quoting Alexander the Great. He once said, “There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” If we really want to make this world a better place, then all we have to do is try.

The 5th Annual Youth Day of Caring (YDOC)

By: Raweya Abdulwali

April 23rd, 2005 was sure to be an ominous day for five volunteers from MAC Youth Give. The day was marked by the chilly weather and rain. By the will of Allah (SWT), everything was meant to be.

The day commenced at 9am officially at the Hellenic Community Centre, where all the volunteers, from various divisions of Ottawa, gathered to contribute their time and skills to the 5th Annual Youth Day of Caring held by United Way Ottawa. The project aimed to facilitate community service to the young populace of Ottawa. The volunteers were then divided into their respective groups and driven to the particular locations where they were to volunteer their services.

The MAC Youth Give group was given the opportunity to volunteer at a disabilities residence in Barrhaven. The residence is home or a temporary retreat to persons suffering from a wide array of disabilities. The staff works meticulously and attentively to provide adequate care required by each patient.

Our primary work was to clean the yard, however due to the rain that work could not be done. In lieu of the yard work, cleaning a residence, the pantry, a storage area, and a staircase in the basement was recommended. The group, which consisted of two brothers and three sisters, split up in two to tackle two of the responsibilities each.

We all worked diligently, however if I may write so, I’d say the sisters won this round! Although, much acknowledgement goes out to the brothers, who did manage to finish their work prematurely and, hence, started cleaning an additional area. Doesn’t that make them the winners? No, because I stated so!

What would otherwise seem insignificant to many, we soon discovered that just a little cleaning made an enormous difference in the staff at the residence. The staff was overwhelmingly appreciative of our efforts.

Having done our work untimely, we did manage to play a little trivia while having lunch! Great questions! By the way, the seven groups of people who will be shaded by Allah (SWT) on the Day of Judgment are the just rulers, persons whose youths are spent in the worship of Allah (SWT), men whose hearts are attached to the mosques, two persons who love each other for the sake of Allah (SWT), persons who eschew adultery when they are called towards it, persons who remember Allah (SWT) in seclusion with tear-filled eyes, and, the one that trumped us, persons who practice charity secretly.

We departed the residence at approximately 2:15 in the afternoon towards the Hellenic Community Centre, where we met with our fellow volunteers to mark the end of the day.

It was a tremendously rewarding day for all of us. We banked on many rewards from Allah (SWT) for very little exertions on our part. From having the intentions to help to being there to just sitting on the bus on our way to the residence. InshaAllah, our group will expand for the coming year.