Fast-a-thon benefits quake relief

At least 245 students, faculty and staff gathered in Friend Center on Wednesday night to break their fast after fasting for the day to recognize the Islamic holy month and raise money for the earthquake in Pakistan.

The Charitable Interfaith Iftar Event, recognizing the meal at which Muslims break the fast, featured food as well as remarks and reflections from a diverse group of speakers.

At least $3,000 had been raised from local business owners and other people, who donated for every non-Muslim who fasted.

The event, nicknamed the Fast-a-thon, took place in the Islamic month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset. This year, Ramadan is from Oct. 4 to Nov. 3.

"The food at the Interfaith dinner was some of the best I've had since I arrived here," participant Dhwani Shah '09 said. "I don't know if that was just because I'm hungry, or because it's that good," she said.

Associate Dean of Religious Life Paul Raushenbush opened the event with welcoming remarks, which were followed by a prayer led by Imam Azhar Haneef of Bait-ul-Sabooh Mosque in Yardley, Pa., reflections on Ramadan and fasting from Haneef and a presentation on the South Asian earthquake relief efforts by Islamic Relief representative Yousef Abdullah.

"What I'm most pleased about is how [the Muslim Students' Association (MSA)] came together with the [other student groups]," Raushenbush said.

"For me, it's the best side of Princeton, people working hard to come together from across different backgrounds, reaching across cultural and religious boundaries to promote the common good," he said.

All proceeds are going to the organization Islamic Relief, which was selected as the lead agency for helping earthquake victims in Pakistan by a consortium of nongovernmental organizations working on the ground in the earthquake-affected areas.

"Fasting during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan helps Muslims develop a sense of empathy and compassion with the poor and needy," MSA member and graduate student Mona Hassan '04 said. "We wanted to help others share that experience of hunger, to learn about the Islamic emphasis on compassion and mercy in the process and to address issues of hunger within our own society."

For some, the day provided a new experience. "Not eating all day felt kind of weird, especially towards the end, but it's not much to ask to help other people," David Huie '09 said. "I decided to fast because it was a good way to help the people affected by the earthquakes who really need all the help they can get."

The decision to donate this year's proceeds to South Asian earthquake victims was a matter of timing, organizers said.

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"The South Asian earthquake happened during the midst of this year's Fast-a-Thon planning, and the organizers were moved by the enormity of the calamity," Hassan said. "They decided to take the sense of responsibility that the event cultivates for people in need onto an international scale and to foster a sense of global citizenship at Princeton."

The first Ramadan Fast-a-Thon was started four years ago by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville chapter of the MSA to raise money for a local soup kitchen.

Last year, the University joined about 150 other campuses for the first time in the event with 190 non-Muslim Princetonians participating, raising over $4,000 for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

The Consortium of International Students joined the MSA in organizing the Fast-a-Thon this year. "The Consortium of International Students was looking for a good vehicle to raise money for the earthquake in Pakistan, and since one of the goals of our group is to increase interaction between internationally minded groups on campus, we decided to collaborate with the Muslim students," Consortium co-president Ritu Kamal '07 said.

The event was also cosponsored by the Frist Campus Center, Global Issues Forum, International Center, Office of Religious Life, Rumi Club for Interfaith Dialogue, Muslim-Jewish Dialogue, Near Eastern Studies, Persian Society of Princeton, Princeton Committee for Palestine, Salaam and South Asian Students Association.

The MSA will continue to accept donations at its website for the South Asian earthquake relief efforts.