Zakat Foundation of America is partnering with Roseland Community Hospital to help reach the underserved. Zakat Foundation, a humanitarian-aid nonprofit that works in about 50 countries on five continents, is working with an often overlooked and underappreciated community hospital in its own community. Roseland Community Hospital serves at-risk communities and Black and brown people who are unrepresented in terms of health-care support.
This partnership will last three months and kicks off March 26 with a fresh food distribution for the surrounding community. The distribution will take place at 3 p.m. at Roseland Community Hospital.
“We work with Roseland because we value what they do, what they offer to the community,” said Donna Neil-Demir, RN, who is also Health Advisor at Zakat Foundation of America. “We realize they deserve support, recognition and appreciation as well. Roseland is us.”
Two times a month, every other Friday, starting on April 16 and ending on June 25, Zakat Foundation will provide:
Hot meals for 125 staffers (nurses and doctors)
Baby kits (for new moms released from the hospital) that include diapers, baby lotion, shampoo, wet wipes, pacifier, bibs, onesies, washcloths, blankets
Hoodies (for homeless released from the hospital)
Blankets (for seniors released from the hospital)
“The New Roseland Community Hospital thanks Zakat Foundation for donating their resources,” Roseland Community Hospital CEO and President Tim Egan said. “We are looking forward to working with them to distribute clothes and food to community residents.”
Zakat Foundation of America has been providing health and wellness care in its various forms, including providing medical aid through clinics, facilitating medical supplies distributions, providing mental and spiritual health care (see Khalil Center, A Zakat Foundation Project) and more. It became clear with the pandemic directly affecting daily life globally that communities here at home would suffer from lack of representation and care.
That immediately led to personal protective equipment (PPE) distributions nationwide, as well as ramped-up food distributions. Many distributions have been through partnerships like with Roseland Community Hospital. A year ago, almost to the day, Zakat Foundation of America delivered PPE to Franciscan Health Hospital in Olympia Fields, providing thousands of pairs of much-needed gloves. Deep into the pandemic, though hopefully on the tail end, we have since been constantly and consistently providing COVID-19 relief to more at-risk communities.
Zakat Foundation of America delivered nearly 3 million pounds of food in the United States alone in 2020, including fresh produce, dairy products, meat and non-perishables into the hands of those most affected by the pandemic.
Although food security was already one of the organization’s pillar programs, the COVID-19 pandemic and the social justice movement resulting from police murdering George Floyd led to dire domestic need. This led to providing more than 36,000 pounds of fresh food and dairy in George Floyd’s community, where a vigil was held in his honor, and returning to give just as much with Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Zakat Foundation of America distributed nearly 400,000 pounds of fresh food to people in the U.S. in just the first month and a half of 2021. And they aren’t stopping there. They will continue to support and uplift underserved, underprivileged communities through food and PPE distributions throughout the remainder of the pandemic, in addition to all its other key programs (orphan sponsorship, education, water, health and wellness, sustainable livelihoods, refugee empowerment and more).