Announcement
Preparing the table with Date offerings
Photo: IRC in NY
In observation of Ramadan, the IRC in NY hosted a beautiful Iftar in the office on Wednesday, April 12th. The staff gathered to transform the office into an elegant dining space, setting up tables with dates and water, for clients and friends in attendance. The staff teamed up to host, decorate, and prepare the food for the Iftar. Ahmed, our Senior Finance Manager led the Adhan (call to prayer), after which friends and family prayed the sunset prayer and of course, ate!
Hear from staff about the significance of this Iftar gathering:
Hadeeqa (Housing Intern) shares:
I absolutely loved the Iftar we hosted at the office - As a staff member, to feel that my workplace sees, respects, embraces, and appreciates me and my faith was refreshing. I was so honored to be a part of the celebration and moved by the solidarity I felt at work. I am grateful that there will always be a space for me to pray at work. Hosting the Iftar was very special, it was truly surreal to come into work and find prayer spaces being set up for men and women to pray, halal food being catered for Iftar time, and Islamic decorations being set around the office.
The best part of it all was providing for our Muslim clients. They have jumped through hurdles to get to where they are today and remained steadfast in their faiths through it all, so to celebrate that was extremely beautiful and poetic.
“It is an honor to connect with clients on a linguistic level as well as a spiritual one. As a Muslim myself, I know how comforting it feels to find common ground on the bases of something so deeply integrated with one’s identity - religion. I hope that I can be that representation and friend for our clients and I happy they enjoyed the event.
Ahmed (Senior Finance Manager) shares:
I was overwhelmed by the support from my colleagues and feel incredibly blessed to be in an environment where staff from different backgrounds get together to celebrate and commemorate a month that is so dear to me and those who observe Ramadan around the world. It was moving to see the coming together of staff and clients breaking bread together as a representation of what we are all here to do at IRC every day – making an impact on the lives of those around us however big or small that may be.
"From the bottom of my heart thank you to everyone who supported me, and I hope this will be a yearly tradition moving forward”
The IRC in NYNJ hopes to bring more community celebrations to the office.