Ramadan can be a very difficult time for low-income families. Groceries and food supplies can be expensive, access to the mosque can be logistically challenging or physically demanding, and the process of requesting financial assistance is complicated at best and degrading at worst. This proposal is a small-scale initiative inspired by a food basket program in the Gaza Strip.
As with all proposals on This American Mosque, please consider adapting this initiative for your mosque’s unique needs if you believe your community can benefit from it. Suggestions and ideas to improve this proposal are also welcome.
Overview
Target: Low-income families
Summary of Plan: Families apply privately for food assistance in the months prior to Ramadan. Information on family size and dietary restrictions is used to build food baskets funded by community donations and compiled and delivered by volunteers just before the start of Ramadan. Each food basket should be able to support its family for at least the entire month of Ramadan.
Problems Addressed: (1) Unaffordable food costs; (2) Mosque inaccessibility; (3) Inefficiency of conventional financial assistance programs
Estimated Cost: $50 to $75 per basket, or $500 to $750 per ten families assisted