VCU MSA's Project Downtown: Richmond

Project Downtown is an initiative that began with a few students that were dissatisfied. Dissatisfied with the plight of homeless and needy individuals in cities across the nation, dissatisfied with the blind eye that society has turned toward them, and dissatisfied to their own non-contribution to the betterment of their own communities. So they turned their dissatisfaction into action.

They gathered what little resources they had and made 30 sandwiches to pass out in the heart of downtown, Miami, Florida. Individuals downtown were surprised that their gift was not contingent upon reading a pamphlet or listening to a sermon. Finally, one of them asked, "why are you doing this?" The answer of the students was none other but the Qur'an's answer:


"We feed you for the sake of God alone, no reward do we seek, nor thanks (76:9)."


The students continued to visit their friends downtown every Friday to offer whatever modest, unconditional gifts they could offer, which has so far included well over 10,000 meals, 1500 articles of clothes, and 1400 toiletry kits. They have also helped secure three apartments for their friends, who are no longer homeless.

But besides the physical support, Project Downtown volunteers are there every week to remember people that have been forgotten, to lend a empathic ear to their plight, and to offer words of emotional support. On multiple occasions, the downtown friends remarked "when other people come here they feed us like we are animals. But when you come, we feel the love. We feel that you truly care."

Since the giving of that first unconditional gift, Project Downtown joined hands with MSA National in the fall of 2006 to further serve our friends across the nation. The Community Service Task Force of MSA National was formed to allow the MSA students to better serve not only themselves and their university community, but the society at large.

Through their service, Project Downtown volunteers have come to realize that their primary staple of distribution is neither water nor bread, but love.

Join us, and find out the secret sauce of this quiet revolution.


Music by: Nick Drake's 'Man in a Shed', album 'Time of no Reply'
Photography by: Bilal Aslam, Muhammad Akhtar, as well as those taken from the internet.

Muslim Students' Association of Richmond, Va.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Tags:
• MSA
• Richmond
• VA
• Virginia
• Muslim
• Student's
• Students'
• Student
• Association
• nick
• drake
• time
• of
• no
• reply
• man
• in
• shed
• VCU
• virginia
• commonwealth
• university
• poverty
• homeless
• islam
• organization
• brandt
• hall
• monroe
• park
• muhammad
• docakh