7th Annual Charity Barbecue: Another Successful Year

Over 30,000 dollars raised for Palestinian children at community gathering

By Jameela Jabber
Originally Published in AlWattan (Issue #21)

Despite at times incessant rain and the cloudy weather on the day of the charity BBQ function for Palestine, a great amount of people still showed up and gave their support. The turnout for the event was expected to be lower than the usual, but it was almost equal to the same amount of people that come every year to this fundraising event.

It was definitely stirring and moving to the organizers of the event, as well as for the attendees, to see the Palestinians, Arabs and Canadians in general come together for such a cause. This was the seventh annual Charity BBQ event which was, and always been, a collaborated effort organized by the Al-Kuds Stores (Town & Country) and the Palestine House. It took place in Mississauga Valley Park on Saturday, August 25, 2007.

Funds were raised through cash donations made by people in addition to the sale of raffle tickets to win prizes such as a flight ticket to the Middle East, a Blueberry mobile phone, and much more. The funds collected are to be sent to the needy Palestinian children living under the Israeli occupation, as well as to the needy people in Lebanon.

As Rafeef, who is a young activist in the Arab community and one of the organizers of the event, stated that this is one of the most important Palestinian activities that takes place in Mississauga. It is also one of the largest fundraiser for Palestine and the money that is collected gets sent to Palestinian children’s organizations in Palestine. There are different circumstances each year and these circumstances drive the organizers, and the people participating, into raising more funds. Last year, and as Rafeef has mentioned, they celebrated a victory after the war, and this year the situation is different and ‘more desperate’ because of the siege on Gaza and West Bank, hence, the need to raise more and more funds is an urgency. When asked what this Palestinian charity event means to her, she replied, ‘it’s part of what every Palestinian living in a Diaspora should be doing. The Palestinian people have been steadfast within the Gaza Strip, West Bank and even Lebanon and we all need to support them in every way we can since we are part of the Palestinian people’.

Rafeef encourages all members of the Arab community to come to next year’s BBQ event because with their aid and support this event will grow bigger, and more money will be sent to the children’s organizations.

The whole day was full of entertainment. It was shown on the faces of all the people there, young and old, how happy they were, and how much fun they were having whilst still supporting a good cause such as this. The children were full of joy and exhilaration. There was a face-painting booth where the children went and got a Palestinian flag drawn on their faces. There was also a DJ playing Arabic traditional songs the entire day, to which people were doing Dabke, which is a traditional folk dance and a way of expressing nationalism. ‘I came here to help the Palestinian people, given that they are going through trials and tribulations back home, by donating my money to them; as well to enjoy this lovely entertainment and support the organizers of this event into making this event bigger and more successful every year’ says Nour Khalid, a young Palestinian girl who is a regular attendee of the annual BBQ function.

Bassam Bishara, a performer and vocalist who sings traditional songs dedicated to Palestine, was also part of the event’s entertainment. His performance was the highlight of the day. The sun began to shine again as he was singing the Palestinian traditional songs that the people love and enjoy hearing. It was quite a pleasant moment to see and the right place to be; people chanting along with him, and others dancing and cheering. An event like this represents unity to Dr. Fareed Ayad, the President of the Palestine House. He added that it brings all people from different countries and different religions together as well as it integrates the new immigrants with the Arab-Canadians. He also commented on the grown-up generation saying, ‘The children whom we have brought with us when we migrated to Canada are all grown-ups now. Some of them are doctors, lawyers, and some are even working for the United Nations like my own son. It is nice to see how successful they have become and see them at the yearly events we hold to fundraise for the needy Palestinians.’ Dr. Ayad would like to see all the members of the community support these young activists with this cause in all aspects, and never to rely on a few of them to generate funds.

Politicians like Omar Alghabra, a Liberal Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Erindale, as well as Shaila Kibria, who is running as the NDP candidate for Mississauga-Erindale in the provincial elections, came to the event and showed their sincere support to Palestinians. Along with Kibria came a team of UofT Mississauga students, dressed in orange t-shirts, volunteering to handout flyers to the people in the event, letting them know that Shaila Kibria is running and is in need of their support. Kibria’s team of volunteers also joined the attendees in doing the Palestinian traditional dabke. It was new to them but nonetheless a fun experience!

Seeing everything going successfully, An’am, the owner of al-Kuds Stores (Town & Country), and the one who took the initiative to start this charity BBQ event 7 years ago, was truly happy with the people who came out and showed interest in all of this. When asked how she felt after 7 years of successful charity BBQs, she replied, ‘I feel really great because when I started this event I didn’t know how far we can go with it. The first year, it was done as a small function outside our store’s door but because the Palestinian people in Canada really want to help raise funds and get together, that small function was a success and we grew from that point on until we couldn’t accommodate the amount of people that were coming to our charity events outside our store anymore; so we moved to the park. This is the third year we use the park and this year we actually took the whole park!’ She also adds that today’s generation needs to learn from this as they will be taking over in the future. An’am gives her greetings and thanks to all the members of the community, to all her friends such as Fatima who helped her out since she began working on this project, and that this would not be possible without them. Everyone is encouraged to come to this event next year. A good time and nice entertainment is definitely promised. The most we can do for the people suffering in different parts of the Middle-East is to show up to events like these and help raising funds to send back to those who are in need of it.