Life Celebrates 18 Years of Help and Hope

Life for Relief and Development celebrated its 18^th year of service to humanity during a banquet held in Dearborn, MI on April 28, 2011.

Nearly 300 supporters were in attendance at the event, which featured speeches, an award presentation, and a Nasheed performance.

Various members of Life’s staff presented videos and slides that documented Life’s work over the past year.  Many audience members were brought to tears by one video that showed Palestinian children who were both physically and mentally handicapped receiving new wheelchairs from Life.

With an eye to the future, the head of Life’s orphans department outlined robust plans for a new orphanage in Sierra Leone, which would greatly expand the capacity of Life’s orphans program in West Africa.

During the banquet, Life bestowed its annual Community Service Award to the Dallas-based Muslim Legal Fund of America for their extraordinary work in defending the civil rights of Muslims around the country.

The evening was capped off by a musical Nasheed performance by the Chicago-based Isra Band.  Audience members were treated to spiritually uplifting melodies as well as heart-pumping debka beats.

The banquet was also a time of reflection for Life’s staff and supporters.  When Life for Relief and Development was established in 1992, the world was a different place.  A lot has changed in the two decades since then, and so much has been accomplished, alhamdulillah.

Unfortunately, what has never changed is the suffering that human beings experience as victims of poverty, conflict, and natural disasters.  There remains a constant need to help the less fortunate of the world survive through their personal tragedies, and find hope in a brighter future.  This need is what has driven Life’s work over the past 18 years, and it will continue to be the driving force behind Life’s efforts for the years and decades to come, insha’Allah.