In the wake of the shocking Memorial Day police-lynching of George Floyd in Minneapolis — brutal proof of American society’s entrenched sanctioning of racial persecution — Zakat Foundation of America is delivering Tuesday, June 2, a refrigerated trailer full of fresh produce and food to the beleaguered poor locked in neighborhoods shut down by state curfew, police power and fiery violence of murky origin.
“We’re sending more than 18 tons of fresh produce and milk into the Minneapolis neighborhoods near Floyd’s killing, where the personal pain and economic deprivation has hurt most and soared highest,” said Halil Demir, Zakat Foundation’s executive director. “Our partners in relief live and serve the people there: families, the elderly, the sick and so many children. As an international Muslim charity that — as a matter of faith and practice — puts the urgent life-needs of all vulnerable human beings first, no matter their color and whatever their creed, we’ve reached out to them to offer relief to those most vulnerable.”
Two key nonprofit partners — Al-Maa’uun and Building Blocks of Islam — are part of the Minneapolis Muslim Leaders Coalition, a group of local organization heads who’ve held nightly conference calls since Floyd’s murder to assess the growing needs of vulnerable communities and strategize targeted relief responses in them.
The scary confluence of previously unanticipated protest crowds, the violent dismantling of local businesses and essential services infrastructure in these already impoverished neighborhoods, along with a state-wide reopening program now underway, makes a COVID-19 spike in the violence-stricken area seem likely in the coming weeks.
This is all the more disturbing as the Floyd killing and Minneapolis’ (and other cities’) subsequent troubles have centered on African American communities generally forsaken in health care deserts and cordoned off in poor neighborhoods. These communities have already scandalously suffered the majority of rampant community coronavirus sickness and death in America.
“We’re worried that these neighborhoods and their residents will not have time to recover from all the trauma they’ve suffered through these past months, and now this,” Demir said. “That’s why we’re trying to respond quickly to their multiple levels of humanitarian need, all of which come down to the most human of rights — food, health care and personal safety.
“Some may call this compassion. At Zakat Foundation, as a Muslim charity, we call it by its God-given name: Justice.”
Founded in 2001, Zakat Foundation of America helps generous and caring people reach out to those in need. Zakat Foundation’s mission is to address immediate needs and ensure the self-reliance of the poorest people around the world. Zakat Foundation conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 50 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.ZAKAT.org.
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