Kansas Islamic Society Hosts Cookout for Neighbors
The Islamic Society hosted Sunday's event for two reasons, one to give back to people in need, and two, more importantly, invite others to get to know their fellow Americans of Muslim faith.
On Sunday, the doors opened up to share a meal with the less fortunate, along with members of the society's neighbors and friends together.
Hassam Madi, spokesperson for the Islamic Society, told KAKE News it took six weeks of planning for the event and they wanted the cookout to be about giving and invite others to get to know their fellow Americans of Muslim faith.
Dana Alhilali was born and raised in Wichita and has been coming to the Muslim Center since the early 2000s. She invited many of her friends to the cookout and was excited to see others of non-Muslim faith show up. "I'm seeing a lot of faces I've never seen before and that is something and that is such great news and is encouraging."
Claudia Amaro, an activist in the Latino community, came at the invitation of a Madi. The two have a vision for Wichita to unite as a whole. "One of our goals or my vision is for Wichita to become just one whole community, I believe we are still very divided with the African American community in one place and the Latino community in another one, the Muslim and Asian community,"
Sunday's cookout was a learning experience for non-Muslims to learn about the religion.
People of all different races and religions came to the cookout in an effort to unite Wichitans. "We are very divided still, we want to encourage our own communities to come together and feel more comfortable together," Amaro said.
Source: kake.com
