Community News
 Sabeel Pantry Serves 2252 Visitors And Makes Donations worth $20,000 - 2011: The Year in Review

It has been more than eight years since Sabeel Food Pantry opened its doors to Chicagoland families. The pantry provides bakery goods and various other food products twice a week at its Belmont Avenue location.

As in the previous years, this year too, there has been an overwhelming response from individuals and businesses to support 'Reaching Out To The Less Privileged', a project initiated by IFANCA.

Sabeel Pantry received $2,600 from four individuals, as well as other regular donations of non-perishable food items from several Islamic centers and Islamic schools throughout the year. These institutions included MSI of Glendale Heights, Islamic Center of Des Plaines, MCC Full and Part Time schools, and Islamic Center of Chicago (ICC). Donations were valued at approximately $8000. Panera Bread has also continued its generous support. The retail value of its donations was approximately $7,000 in 2011.

Open Mondays and Thursdays between 10 A.M. and 1 P.M., 2,252 visits took place through in 2011 and about forty families were served. In addition, Sabeel Pantry/IFANCA coordinated with Dr. Jihad Shoshara of AMAL, raising $10,770 from 114 donors for this year's Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. Seven hundred and eighty turkeys were distributed (500 at the Emmett Till Academy of Chicago, 250 to IMAN at Marquette Park, Chicago, and twenty at the Pantry location) over the 2011 Thanksgiving weekend.

Dr. Farhat Quadri, Director of Community Services thanked all donors – individuals, institutions, and businesses, for their consistent support. He expressed special thanks to Dr. Shoshara and all the volunteers involved in the distribution of turkeys on the morning of November 21st.