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Fourth grader Leyla Jacobson sucked on a lollipop as she tied up small shiny bags of candy at the COP House in St. Cloud Monday evening.

Filtering through wrapped boxes of marshmallow Peeps, Starburst jelly beans, suckers, chocolates and Skittles donated by people in the community, "I like to eat candy a lot," she said matter-of-factly, putting aside a large bag of jelly beans to bring home to her siblings later. 

In the pandemic, Ramadan has looked a little different for many in St. Cloud. Although more people have felt comfortable worshipping in person and breaking daily fasts together, the isolation and fear ushered in by the pandemic has left a lasting impact on Muslim communities in the area.

2021 marks the fifth year community members and volunteers have come together to collect and bag candy to distribute to Muslim families and children for Eid al-Fitr, a two- to four-day celebration marking the end of Ramadan. Last year, the pandemic forced a cancelation of public celebrations of the annual tradition.

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Naima Hussein, one of the volunteers who helped out Monday, grew up in Egypt and said multi-day Eid al-Fitr celebrations there were similar to the Christmas celebrations she sees here in the U.S.

"People would decorate their homes and the streets, and there would be candies for the children, and the elders would give money to the children," she said. "Just because we now live in a different part of the world, there's that sense [that] you're missing out just because you're not there. The reason why we started the Eid celebration for the kids is to remind them hey, it's still a celebration, and happy Eid."

Hussein said celebrating Ramadan last year was challenging, especially with restricted occupancy in local mosques and vaccine hesitancy among some the Somali community. 

"Ramadan is a huge event, usually families will come together and that's the time you break your fast and you get together with friends," she said. "Last year definitely was different because a lot of people were fasting alone by themselves. And there are many elders in the community that live alone."

Ruweyda Hussein said she did a lot of FaceTime sessions with her family last year. So far this year she's been able to see some relatives, but not all. A lot of them are choosing to practice social distancing, and some have chosen not to get vaccinated for now, she said.

Last year volunteer Sahur Hussein said her family didn't celebrate Eid in the same way because the pandemic was picking up in May. This year her family has been fortunate enough to work from home in the pandemic and spend time together, she said.

"But I know a lot of our community doesn't have the opportunity to do that, a lot of people are still essential workers," Sahur Hussein said. "For us this year it's kind of a bigger deal because now we're able to actually get together a bit more."

COP House officer Taylor McIntyre said this year was the first time community organizers partnered with the COP House to help with the candy drive.

Located at 600-13th St. S., the COP House is an outpost for several St. Cloud police officers and the building is home to a variety of social services, health care and after-school programs for kids in the neighborhood.

Mahado Ali, a member of the Women's Somali Professional Network and supervisor of cultural competency and health equity at CentraCare, said having officers help out with the candy drive is a good opportunity for the St. Cloud Police Department to serve her community on a larger scale. 

"In Africa we say that it takes a village to raise a child. And I feel that I am responsible for everyone in this community as long as I live here," Ali said. "With everything that's going on with the social injustice that's happening, I feel like [both communities] fear each other because of the unknown. And the way to bridge that for me is to bring people together at the table."

On Thursday, candy will be brought to several prayer sites in St. Cloud. McIntyre and others will also be handing out candy and facilitating lawn games outside the COP House from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. as some walk back from prayers at Halenbeck Hall on the St. Cloud State University campus.

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Religion and Faith

The St. Cloud community comes together to distribute candy to children for Eid al-Fitr, a two- to four-day celebration marking the end of Ramadan.

A sweet way to celebrate Eid: Annual community candy drive is back

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