ISOC RAISED £7,006 IN ONE WEEK!
7 days of excitement. 7 days of exhaustion. 7 days of unity. 7 days of raising money for orphans. It was tough, but it was worth it. Islamic Society with its many volunteers, collectively came together for one purpose, and that one purpose was to raise money for orphans in need. The religion of Islam in itself holds a huge belief in charity and so this belief was the push we needed to make this week a success.
We decided on having a henna and cake stand from Monday to Friday, 11-5pm, and boy was it tough. From the shear cold, to the pumping of adrenaline, the two feelings together created a spark in all of us which we had never witnessed before. We had an overall total of 40 volunteers helping; 40 volunteers who took the time out of their busy lives for such an amazing cause. Upon witnessing such unity, committee member Habeeba Miah said, “I have never seen so many smiles before. I made so many friends just from volunteering, and the fact that we all had one goal, made us all closer together.”
Many stayed up until 5am to bake cakes, and others woke up at 8am to set everything up. We pushed and we pushed. When Wednesday came, the exhaustion had caught up on us all, but together we reminded one another what our purpose was and that one purpose was to change a life.
The cake and henna stands were followed by a night of dodgeball, FIFA, an SU Olympic event and the ultimate Cultural Dinner. We also collaborated with the Rugby and Athletics Society, Asian Society, SHELO society and Nepalese society. Committee member Reddin Ahmad stated that “there is no disagreement during charity week as there is only one goal”. This is the beauty of Charity Week. It doesn’t matter which society you are from, whether you are a Muslim or Non-Muslim, black or white, everyone can get involved and have fun.
Volunteer Faheema Chowdhury said the best thing about charity week was “knowing that the small donations you helped raise will come together and go to countries that will help make a difference to lives”. And she is absolutely right. Every penny that you gave on campus, will make a difference to the lives of many orphans in countries such as Syria and Bangladesh.
Here is a small message from the two presidents, Aishah Hannan and Moazzam Javed. To anyone reading this, we give our absolute gratitude to you. To everyone who volunteered and donated, know that you are the reason for a person’s survival, education, shelter and a family. So thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for being the change that this world desperately needs. And a huge thank you to the SU staff who remained patient with us and helped us through this process. We hope that this optimism and enthusiasm will continue for the future years to come! J
Written by: Aishah Hannan