Zakat Chicago grant quadruples families served at Sanad Food Pantry

The Sanad Food Pantry has been a fixture of the Chicago Lawn area for the past 30 years, serving as the lifeblood of the community since their doors first opened. Sanad, over the past three decades, has committed itself to providing meals, distributing food boxes, and running coat drives, among countless other services, to those who need them most. And once the Coronavirus pandemic started, resulting in millions across the country losing their jobs and children losing access to school lunches, Sanad knew it had to rise up and meet those needs.

Zakat Chicago has been supporting the Sanad Food Pantry for over a decade. Our help during the COVID-19 pandemic was able to triple Sanad’s budget. The food pantry went from serving 11,000 families in 2019 to 46,000 families in 2020. Additionally, Zakat Chicago was able to provide all the equipment necessary to keep Sanad running, from buying refrigerators and shelving for supplies to the very utensils used to cook meals. During the holy month of Ramadan, Zakat Chicago supported Sanad by helping create Ramadan boxes. These boxes were filled to the brim with the halal food products that a family would need to prepare a nutritious Ramadan iftar and meals. Your donations to Zakat Chicago allows us to provide the support necessary to keep Sanad’s doors open to Chicagoans.

As the weather grew colder and the pandemic continued to rage, Sanad was no longer able to accept used winter coats for their coat drive. Zakat Chicago, responding to the call heard around the city for coats for the impending winter, procured and donated thousands of new winter coats and other winter necessities to create kits that were distributed at Sanad and other Muslim organizations across Chicago. With temperatures in our city frequently reaching at or below 0 °F overnight, your donation makes a life-or-death difference for people trying to stay safe and warm during these long winter nights.

Sanad, according to the pantry’s manager Aber Aboueid, would not be open if it weren’t for Zakat Chicago’s support. Your donations to ZC make a world of difference in the lives of those who turn to Sanad for help. Your Zakat has a profound and immediate impact on the lives of Chicagoans. Our principle has always been “local collection, local distribution.” We hope you join us in our efforts to maintain that message and help the less fortunate of the Greater Chicago area.