(Chicago, IL, 8/22/16) – The Zakat Foundation of America is mobilizing to reach over 40 countries across 5 continents for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, which goes from the 11th to the 14th of September this year. The campaign will deliver plentiful shares of food to remote and impoverished communities throughout the world, and is expected to reach over 25,000 families.
Eid al-Adha, literally “festival of the sacrifice” in Arabic, commemorates a foundational story in the traditions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. It commemorates the prophet Abraham’s unyielding devotion to his faith, as expressed in his willingness to sacrifice his own son, Isaac, and God’s merciful intervention in which He instructed Abraham to offer an animal instead.
To celebrate the holiday, families are encouraged to purchase and share generous portions of meat with the less fortunate, for whom the expensive cost of animal protein makes it rarely available. Zakat Foundation of America’s global network of offices and partners allows Muslims and caring people to help feed malnourished communities across the world with provisions from healthy, sustainably raised livestock, which, as locally-sourced, also benefits community businesses.
“Chronic poverty and malnutrition are a blight on our world,” said Halil Demir, Executive Director of Zakat Foundation of America. “Such a daunting problem can’t be solved in one stroke, but by spreading the joy of Eid to those around the world who normally go without it, we can brighten the lives of tens of thousands of people and show, through our actions, the kind of world we aspire to create.”
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) estimates that some 800 million people worldwide, or 1 out of every 8 individuals on the planet, are chronically undernourished. By drawing on the unconditional moral vision at the heart of the Abrahamic religious traditions, Zakat Foundation of America aims to provide a model for combating the persistent, pernicious issues of poverty and world hunger.
CONTACT: Zakat Foundation of America Public Relations Coordinator, Jamie Merchant, (708)233-0555, [email protected]
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Founded in 2001, Zakat Foundation of America helps generous and caring people reach out to those in need. Zakat Foundation of America’s mission is to address immediate needs and ensure the self-reliance of the poorest people around the world. Zakat Foundation of America conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 50 countries. For more information, please visit www.ZAKAT.org.