Muslims, Methodists mark Ramadan, pack supplies for Haiti
Members of a Brooklyn Park Islamic community center are marking the holy month of Ramadan by packing food for earthquake victims in Haiti today.
Ja'fari Islamic Center members are packing supplies alongside members of the Brooklyn Park Methodist Church congregation.
The Islamic Center's coordinator, Sameer Parmar, says packing food for others while fasting teaches important lessons.
"Because this is the holy month of Ramadan we are actually fasting to kind of develop these kind of noble qualities of generosity so that we can feel the pain of those that are missing out on what we have," Parmar says. "This kinda helps us put what we are trying to develop to put into practice."
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Charity is an important part of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sun-up to sun-down. Parmar says it's not hard to pack food while not being able to eat.
"You just develop that self-discipline. That's the whole intention -- I mean, trying to develop that self discipline and self control toward the things you're not supposed to do and fasting kind of helps us do that," Parmar says.
The event is taking place at Kids Against Hunger in New Hope.
The Islamic Center is also collecting donations to send to charitable groups in Africa.