Believing that food supplies could be life-saving during harsh winter, a group of Muslim women in Dublin are making sure no homeless is left hungry during the Christmas and holiday season.
During the week, and especially on Christmas Eve, volunteers from the Muslim Sisters of Eire were on the streets to deliver “bags for life”.
Chairperson Lorraine O’Connor said the bags included sanitary products, hats, gloves, scarfs and other essential items for those experiencing homelessness in the city.
“Our teams are out in Dublin City center since 3pm giving out bags for life. Each bag contains survival essentials for rough sleepers: hats, gloves, socks, scarves, sleeping bags, protein bars, hygiene packs. Thank you everyone who donated and made this possible!” the group wrote on Twitter.
One of the group’s members revealed to Dublin Live: “People are in need and the numbers are increasing every day.”
“We’re providing some relief and happiness at Christmas,” she added.
Islam lays a great emphasis on the virtue of neighborliness, stressing on Muslims’ individual duty to be good to their neighbors.
The Muslim Sisters of Eire (MSOE) is an independent organization of Muslim women living in Ireland.
Over the past five years, MSOE has been running weekly soup kitchens to help the homeless in Dublin, Ireland.
With increasing number of homeless people in Dublin, the Muslim Sisters of Eire group has noticed a significant increase in the number of people experiencing food poverty after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Running their soup kitchen outside Dublin’s GPO on O’Connell Street, the Muslim organization say they have been inundated with requests for sleeping bags, warning that homeless people would rather sleep out in the cold than go to a hostel.
