Canada’s Champions of Change – Waris Malik
Br. Waris Malik from Islamic Foundation in Scarborough, Ontario was selected as one of Canada’s Top 50 volunteers in CBC’s Champions of Change contest for his work in organizing a free soup kitchen within the mosque.
Please spread the word about his efforts and anyone interested in volunteering can sign up through the IFT site.
Champions of Change, Waris Malik
Waris established the first ever “free restaurant” at the Islamic Foundation in Toronto. He designed a soup kitchen that operates just like a restaurant on Saturdays–no line-ups–volunteers come to the table to serve those who could use a hot meal
Although Soup Day is located in a mosque, it’s open to anyone. When Soup Day first opened, some people from the surrounding community were a little intimated having never stepped foot in a mosque before. Waris remembers some were unsure whether they should cover their heads or not and what the etiquette was. But he convinced new arrivals that they weren’t coming in to pray but to eat and now many non-Muslim seniors are regulars.
Waris’ nominator Abdullah Khalid says, “I only wish we could all do even one percent of what Waris does; we could bring so much happiness and laughter to this loving country called Canada.”
