Houston comes to aid of refugees in Jordan

Latifah Muridi left, and Aisha Hagi wrap sugar in plastic before boxing it at the Warehouse of Helping Hand For Relief & Development. The group hopes to help feed 650 Syrian refugee families in Jordan.﻿ Latifah Muridi left, and Aisha Hagi wrap sugar in plastic before boxing it at the Warehouse of Helping Hand For Relief & Development. The group hopes to help feed 650 Syrian refugee families in Jordan.﻿ Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Houston comes to aid of refugees in Jordan 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Volunteers gathered in southwest Houston on a rainy Saturday afternoon to make care packages for the thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees who have fled to Jordan.

Through coordination from local Houstonians and Helping Hand USA, they hope to send enough care packages to feed 650 families. The boxes, which weigh 49 pounds each, contain flour, rice, pinto beans, sugar and vegetable oil - enough to feed a family of five for about a week.

Maaz Adil, assistant coordinator for the south central region of the organization, draws inspiration to give from his Muslim faith, but people from all different religions have donated to the cause.

"It's important to help, period," Adil said. "Even in America too, there are a lot of people who don't have jobs or have lost due to the economy."

Adil took a trip to Haiti in the spring and saw the need for help, and that drew him to volunteer in Houston.

In the past week, they sent boxes of clothes to impoverished areas of Pakistan.

More Information To help: Donations are being accepted from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 6, Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 at 10503 Rokley Road, Suite 105B. The items being collected are the Walmart Great Value brand of 20 pounds of Great Value long grain enriched rice, 10 pounds Golden Medal all purpose flour, 1 Gallon Great Value vegetable oil, 8 pounds of dry Great Value pinto beans and 10 pounds Great Value pure sugar. Visit the Facebook group "Feed 650 Syrian/Palestinian Refugee Families" for more information. How to help Donations: Accepted 2-7 p.m., Sept. 6, 12-13 at 10503 Rokley Road, Suite 105B. Items being collected: Wal-Mart Great Value brand of long-grain enriched rice (20 pounds), Golden Medal all-purpose flour (10 pounds), Great Value vegetable oil (1 gallon), Great Value dry pinto beans (8 pounds) and Great Value pure sugar (8 pounds). On Facebook: Visit the Facebook group "Feed 650 Syrian/Palestinian Refugee Families" for more information.

Deadline nears

The campaign will continue through Sept. 11. It cannot surpass its goal of 650 packages because the shipping containers that will deliver the food to Jordan can only carry 44,000 pounds.

If more donations are made, a second shipment could go out on Oct. 25, when they have their final deadline for delivery. The load takes a month to get to Jordan, and the food needs to arrive fresh before winter, Adil said.

Ayub Hagi, a Somali immigrant who came to Houston in 1997, is one of the individuals who brought up this campaign to Helping Hand leaders in hopes that they would sponsor it.

He brought his sister, Aisha, and niece, Fatimah, to the donation center to volunteer. The girls wrapped the sugar with plastic while he and Adil packaged and prepared the boxes for delivery.

"If you know the history of Somalis, you know that we've been through hunger," said Hagi, who teaches biology at Willowridge High School in Fort Bend. "I've had so many family members come from refugee camps after the civil war in Somalia. I know how it is, and I know that if people would have forgotten about us, we wouldn't be here today."

Helping Hand USA held a campaign in New Jersey that sent a shipment on Aug. 22.

Maha Khalid, a biomedical sciences student at the University of Houston, returned on Aug. 17 from a week-long trip called Youth for Jordan, which is sponsored by Helping Hand USA. Her time there inspired her to continue giving when she returned home, she said. She saw the impact of the care packages first-hand. The centers in Jordan have a special ticketing system to ensure the people receiving food are refugees and not people who will take the goods and sell them.

"They don't have anything, so when you give them whatever, even if it's just our time and playing with their kids - it's all gratitude," Khalid said. "When you offer them something they feel a sense of relief."

Making a difference

Imran Khan brought his SUV full of supplies to the warehouse Saturday, just two days before he leaves for hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca. His friends and family have been emotionally affected by the images of a worn-torn Syria surfacing on social media, and they all cooperated to make a difference, he said.

Helping Hand USA is spending about $600 on boxes for each load they send, which they bought through donations. The food is all the same brand because when it reaches Jordan, officials inspect it to ensure its freshness and cleanliness. Having a single brand enables the officials to investigate just a small quantity of food.

"We're coming together here in Houston to show that humanity is still alive, and our hearts still beat the same way that theirs do," Hagi said.