Muslims of Halifax Collect 'Coats for Humanity'
“Lots of people suffered last winter by not having adequate coats, so our goal today is to try to provide as many Haligonians with a warm coat before the winter hits,” Asraa El-Darahali, the coordinator for Coats for Humanity, told Global News on Sunday, October 11.
Meeting on Sunday at Mic Mac Mall in Halifax, Muslim volunteers launched "Coats for Humanity" drive between noon and 5pm.
By the end of the event, over 700 coats were donated.
The group is continuing to collect donations until the end of the month at Dalhousie University’s Dentistry Building; St. Mary’s University’s Language Centre and interfaith room, SimplyCast, Cole Harbour Family Medicine and Bedford Orthodontics.
“We’re coming together as one community; people from different races, religions, backgrounds, just coming together for the main goal of helping those in need,” said El-Darahali, adding that she hopes to turn Coats for Humanity into an annual event.
Muslims make around 1.9 percent of Canada's some 32.8 million population.
Their number has increased dramatically over the last decade and Islam has become the number one non-Christian faith in Canada.
A recent survey showed that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are proud to be Canadian, and that they are more educated than the general population.
