Islamic Relief Canada and Markham and Lawrence Youth United organize event
Islamic Relief Canada and the Markham and Lawrence Youth United (MLYU) are hosting a barbecue on Sunday, Aug. 24, as part of a new community initiative.
From 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., community members will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with fellow neighbours at Cornell Junior Public School, 61 Holmfirth Ter.
MLYU members will be selling barbecue meals for $3 per child and $5 per adult.
There will also be information booths with pamphlets and brochures to educate the community about free programming that the City of Toronto provides.
“From our part, we want to bring awareness to our organization,” said MLYU chair Irfan Nakhuda. “We’re trying to get more volunteers for the number of services we’re trying to run.”
Nakhuda and some of his friends formed MLYU in August of last year in an effort to support and encourage their fellow youth in the community.
“We have no city or other programs for these youth and so we noticed that due to this, more and more youths started to drift towards criminal activities,” said Nakhuda.
The organization officially registered as a non-profit organization just last month. They run a number of programs at Cornell and Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute.
The group is currently working on a website and looking for their own facilities.
In the meantime, they are recruiting volunteers and raising awareness through collaborative projects with Islamic Relief.
All proceeds from the community barbecue will go towards Islamic Relief’s Helping Hands initiative, which aims to support local communities through different collaborative projects and events.
“We have a lot of global initiatives and we just wanted to expand our domestic presence,” said Sohaib Zuberi, Islamic Relief’s development coordinator.
Islamic Relief Canada is the largest Islamic charity organization in North America. They run a number of international campaigns, such as food aid, orphan sponsorship and emergency relief efforts.