Imagine if you were Santa Claus or a miracle maker?
Do you know anyone who could donate $50,000 in three weeks to save a
wonderful organization in the Bronx who worked with community
tirelessly for years? Or do you know 10 people who could donate $5000
each.  Or do you know 50 people who could give a $1000, and make a
difference in the lives of those who are often forgotten by the world.
Or do you know 100 people who could give $500 each; or should we go
for 1000 people who could donate $50 each?
By raising this money The Muslim Women’s Institute for Research &
Development could continue to keep their PANTRY doors open where
thousands of people get fed.

Imagine in this cold winter on the holiday season when we strive to
celebrate and dream about a new year filled with gifts, and hopes.
There are people out there whose dream is to have one meal a day.
Imagine if we chose to make a gift for one of these souls and provide
a meal for a holiday season? If each one of us would only share a
meal, there will be no hungry people in the richest country in the
world.

THE MWIRD is reaching out to all of us for help. They only have three
weeks to raise $50,000 or close their doors forever.
Now you can imagine the people’s faces who for years went to MWIRD’s
doors for food, and whose volunteers spent countless hours feeding the
hungry, imagine if they find doors closed where can they turn to on
this cold winter?

Dear friends, we all can make a difference. We elected President Obama
by $5 donations; why can’t we
Provide a meal for a person in need.
We are torn by doubts who is good and who is not, and here are Muslim
women who have been trying to serve the Bronx community for years
being invisible and working without ever asking for acknowledgement,
now they are shedding tears before these crisis and sadness of closing
their doors before the needy ones forever. They served regardless of
race, religion, ethnicity, gender or sex…THEY SERVED those in need.
Imagine if we could be the catalyst for change and make it happen.
Imagine if Santa was real and that  we like him all could deliver this
gift of hope?

PLESAE for MORE INFORMATION ON MWIRD check the website: http://mwird.org
OR CONTACT THEM AT:
MWIRD
1363 Ogden Avenue, Bronx, NY 10452
Tel: 718-960-2262; 1-917-529-5242
Email: info@mwird.org

YOUR DONATION WILL BE ESSENTIAL AND DEEPLY APPRECIATED.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
WITH LOVE
SHQIPE
P.S. LET US NOT FORGET WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. WE ONLY OWN THAT WHAT WE CAN GIVE.

Food pantries in Highbridge and Parkchester closing Dec. 31
BY Kerry Wills
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Originally Published: Thursday, December 8 2011
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/bronx-food-pantries-run-muslim-women-initiative-close-funding-vanishes-demand-rises-article-1.988325

Nurah Ama’tullah, Executive Director, Muslim Women’s Institute for Research and Development, and her intern, Sarah Abdullah.  A community group that feeds more than 10,000 people in the Bronx through two food pantries plans to shut its doors at the end of the year.The Muslim Women’s Inistitute for Research and Development has been distributing halal groceries to needy Bronxites since 1997. The tough economy has shrunk donations at the same time that residents’ need is surging, says Executive Director Nurah Ama’tullah.“When investments took a dive, the first thing they (Foundations) cut was philanthropic giving,” said Ama’tullah.

Meanwhile, “The Bronx is the hungriest borough in the city.”A 70% slump in donations and a more than 50% increase in demand for services this year has put the organization $48,000 in the hole, Ama’tullah said. Unless a sudden flood of donations can bridge the gap, the food pantries in Highbridge and Parkchester will close on Dec. 31.

“This is very important for me,” said Antonia Cruz, 52, an out-of-work mother of five. “The food is very good. I don’t have public assistance. I hope they don’t close.”

The group’s five employees–Ama’tullah, three other administrators and a pantry manager–have been working without pay since Memorial Day, she said, adding that while volunteers help keep the pantries running, some issues have to be handled by paid staff. “Every position that you need in a supermarket is required for a food pantry,” Ama’tullah said.

Triada Stampas, director of government relations and public education for The Food Bank for New York City, which supplies food to MWIRD, said the group is facing the same problem as many other pantries and soup kitchens citywide. “Their operating expenses really became insupportable within their budget, which is a tragic situation, Stampas said. “They’ve been a really good partner that has met real needs in their community. We’re really sad to see them go.”

The New York Women’s Foundation’s support of the group will ended in 2009-10, after five years.The Union Square Awards helped fund MWIRD in the past, but its spokesperson said they focus on emerging organizations and typically limit funding to 10 years.

Though U.S. Rep Jose Serrano earmarked $100,000 for the group in 2010, no federal dollars made it to MWIRD’s coffers, a Serrano spokesman confirmed.