Mosque collects a tonne of food for local food banks

Donations at Jalalia Jaame mosque

Over a tonne of food has been distributed to local foodbanks by the Jalalia Jaame mosque in Rochdale.

During the most recent lockdown, the mosque organised a food drive asking families to collect food in their homes over a two week period for food banks, to ensure the less fortunate don’t go hungry this winter.

Scores of families and approximately 80 students from Rochdale Islamic Academy contributed towards the effort, which saw households collect food between 18 November and 6 December.

Donations were collected by volunteers before being sorted and distributed to Rochdale Foodbank, homeless charity Petrus, and the Oldham-based UKeff (UK Education & Faith Foundation).

Local cash and carry, Arif Grocers, loaned a van to the mosque to help volunteers deliver the donations.

Volunteer Sabbir Ahmed, 27, who is employed as a work coach for the Department for Work & Pensions, said: "Since the lockdown in March, the mosque launched a Covid-19 support service and that’s when it dawned upon us of how many people are struggling in our own town. Due to the current pandemic, there has been a huge rise in unemployment which has sadly meant that the demand on food banks in our town have also increased.

“I have seen first-hand the struggles people without employment go through. There are so many people who are struggling to put food on the table. This will help a lot of people and long may it continue.”

The Imam of the Mosque, Nozrul Islam, who spent a morning delivering food items to food banks, added: “We go by the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) teaching that, ‘He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while his neighbour goes hungry’.”

The mosque also expressed gratitude to the households who collected non-perishable food during the second lockdown to help those struggling.