Islamic charities in Australia responded to the recent NSW Bushfires.
MUSLIM CHARITIES RESPOND TO NSW BUSHFIRES
by Ashleigh Green
The fires that ravaged much of NSW in October stirred an outpouring of goodwill across the country. Within hours of homes and businesses being destroyed, social media sites were flooded with offers of time, money, goods and services to help those affected. I remember seeing one family use Facebook to advertise their offer of a car to a family that had lost their own. While the fires caused widespread devastation, what emerged from the ashes was sense of community that crossed barriers of religion, gender, age and race.
While we often hear about the wonderful work of Christian charities, it is important not to overlook the work of Islamic organizations that are playing a vital role in the relief effort. On 25 October Australian Grand Mufti, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed spoke to SBS , “Today we collectively extended a prayer for rain, protection and relief from the bushfires and all harm to, not just NSW, but all of Australia because this is our community…”
Here, we share with you some of the work of Australian Muslim charities that continue to play a fundamental role in the bushfire relief efforts.
Mission of Hope
Mission of Hope is a Sydney based Muslim charity with a focus on health and community development. Mission of Hope’s ‘Gimme $5 for Fire’ campaign is exactly what the name suggests – individuals donate $5 and the money that accumulates is used to fund the SES bushfire relief efforts. Ibrahim Abdo from Mission of Hope explains that, “$5 doesn’t sound like much, but when the message gets out that we’re doing something to help the fire victims you get a lot of people wanting to pitch in. Eventually, the money adds up to a significant amount.” Mission of Hope is also calling for volunteers to assist with the SES clean up at Windsor.
Islamic Relief Australia
Islamic Relief is a non-profit humanitarian aid organization working in over thirty countries with branches in Sydney and Melbourne.
In response to the recent bushfires, Islamic Relief set the goal of collecting 1000 sleeping bags for Blue Mountains residents who had lost their homes. Along with successfully collecting 1000 sleeping bags Islamic Relief volunteers delivered sweets and refreshments to firefighters, they delivered a range of supplies to the Springwood Country Club evacuation centre and they set up a fund for monetary donations.
Mohammad Kandil, head of communications at Islamic Relief Australia says, “We are responding to the bushfires in much the same way we are currently responding to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Islamic Relief Australia feels that humanitarian work should start at home which is why we’re passionate about helping those affected by the bushfires. (CRC Interface , 2013).
Islamic Relief gives help in the NSW Bushfires
Islamic Relief gives help in the NSW Bushfires
