Dr. Karima Hirami, co-director of the Islamic Center of Southern California's food pantry.
Hollywood tends to portray Muslims in one-dimensional, non-pleasant terms...
Desert-dwelling, blood-thirsty terrorists. Repressed and/or uneducated women. Underhanded immigrants. Rarely do we get to see Muslims portrayed in the same way as most people in the world, dealing with the complex issues we all do in our daily lives: Loving parents. Motivated students. Ethical professionals. Maybe even a hero or two.
It’s time for Hollywood to get out more often.
Today, I was asked to bring my camera (ironically, not far from Hollywood), and spend time at the Islamic Center of Southern California (or ICSC) where I would be introduced to some real-life, everyday Muslim parents, students, professionals and, yes, heroes.
In the dining hall of this nondescript two-story building on Vermont Avenue – in the heart of bustling Koreatown – a group of dedicated volunteers from all walks of life gather every Saturday morning. Without fanfare, their modest goal: to provide fresh and packaged foods without question to nearly 200 of the less fortunate in this neighborhood. A food pantry.
Surrounded by boxes of cereal, bottles of juice, packages of rice and nuts, fresh bread, canned vegetables and frozen chicken, volunteers organize tables and prepare themselves to humbly serve the community with love in their hearts and without an ounce of proselytization in their actions or words.
“Service to our neighbors can be a personal and simple antidote to all of the nonsense and mayhem we see in the world today.”
- Al Mamdani, Co-Director of the Food Pantry
The brainchild of former ICSC Religious Director Jihad Turk in 2005, the food pantry has been managed the past five years by the husband-wife duo of Al Mamdani and Dr. Karima Hirami. This amazing couple are heroes to many of the Korean and Hispanic immigrant and low-income families in the blocks around the ICSC.
To the volunteers, this is more than community service. It is an act of faith.
Volunteers in action at the food pantry, bringing relief to nearly 200 less fortunate individuals and families from the surrounding area.
According to Kristen Stengas, Communication Coordinator at the Islamic Center, a lot gets done in a very short amount of time. Typically, the food recipients (or “customers” as they are nobly referred to) are already lined up outside even before the volunteers arrive. The food, delivered by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in a distribution agreement with the Center, is removed from boxes and arranged on tables, much in the same way as an assembly line. Once the food is ready, Al and Karima get everyone in a circle and give the volunteers a pep talk before opening the doors.
The process is simple: The volunteers line up inside the dining hall near the rear door. As a customer comes in, they are assigned to a volunteer that takes their food bag or cart while the customer signs in. The timing is such that by the time the customer is done signing in, the volunteer meets them at the exit with their food. In many cases, a customer is in and out in less than a minute.
According to Al, the Center pays a nominal amount, but as a distribution arm for the Food Bank, the ICSC allocates on average 6,000 pounds of food – including 1,200 pounds of chicken – within two hours every Saturday.
“Service to our neighbors can be a personal and simple antidote to all of the nonsense and mayhem we see in the world today,” said Al.
Hollywood could learn a lot from these people.
# # #
Note: Most of the photos below show the volunteers in action. The customers shown in the photos gave their permission to appear. The customers do not pack their own food.
Click on the first image of the set to start a slideshow. You can advance to the next photo by clicking the arrow on your computer or wiping with your finger on a smartphone or tablet. Press the ESC key to get out of slideshow mode.
