Hawzah News Agency - (Toronto - Canada) -A Rexdale mosque food hamper fundraiser Saturday to lift up people of all faiths and backgrounds hurt by the pandemic is being dedicated to one of its caretakers killed outside the mosque.
Table of Mercy operates out of International Muslims Organization of Toronto (IMO) mosque and distributes approximately 400 non-perishable food hampers monthly to families in need by either COVID-safe curbside pickup or delivery.
This Saturday, Table of Mercy hosts a drive-thru fundraising dinner with all proceeds supporting the food hamper project. Meal pickups are from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at IMO at 65 Rexdale Blvd. or by delivery.
The fundraiser is in memory of Mohamed-Aslim Zafis, the 58-year-old father stabbed to death on Sept. 12 as he sat outside the doors of the mosque. The caretaker was ensuring those who entered followed COVID-19 health protocols.
“Mohamed’s special task, he wanted to be the leader in ensuring everyone who enters the mosque meets the pandemic protocols and health requirements by wearing a mask and properly sanitizing,” IMO president Omar Farouk said.
“It was so refreshing and fulfilling for someone like Mohamed to come forward and ask for that specific responsibility. During hamper preparations and between services at IMO, he would jump up and do whatever he could.”
Guilherme “William” Von Neutegem, 34, was charged with first-degree murder in Zafis’s death.
Hours after his arrest, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network said several social media accounts with the same name and location as Von Neutegem displayed links to a neo-Nazi occult ideology that instructs believers to commit murder.
Toronto police said earlier they have not ruled out investigating the homicide as hate-motivated.
Since Zafis’s killing, the mosque holds only two Jum’ah or Friday prayers because “people still have fears coming later in the evening,” Farouk said.
People of all faiths attended Zafis’s funeral, at which Table of Mercy Hindu pundits, Christian pastors and Jewish rabbis spoke, said Habeeb Alli, community development manager with Muslim Food Bank and chaplain at a prison in Kingston, Ont.
“He was a loving person,” Alli said of Zafis. “All these months, he was an integral part of the Table of Mercy: accepting donations, packing donations, going out with the bags. He was always laughing and engaging with donors and recipients. Many felt his love, felt his mercy. Many came to his funeral.”
Table of Mercy is responding to a great need, Alli said, noting some monthly hampers are provided to families in the Jane and Finch community following “the difficult summer of killings in Toronto,” Alli said.
The project has supported approximately 2,000 families since it launched in May.
“At the very beginning, we saw how desperate it was,” Alli said of the pandemic. “Everything was locked down. A sense of duty pulled us together to do this. I don’t think I had a clue how desperate it was until all the new people were coming through. There is a need.”
Muslim Food Bank and Community Services, IMO and the Canadian Council of Ahlus Sunnah collaborated on the project, assisted by Lions Club members, Hindu pundits, Christian pastors and Jewish rabbis.
“Only when we work collaboratively and collectively, are we able to ensure our aims and objectives to serve the community are being achieved in a more significant and effective way, especially at this time of crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic, when needs are greater than at any other time,” said Farouk.