Demand at Nepean’s Sadaqa Food Bank is up during Ramadan

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Ottawa’s only halal food bank is on track to distribute at least 500 Ramadan hampers this year, a record number for the 18-year-old organization, said founder and manager Salim Jam.

“It’s a difficult time,” said Jam. “There is so much poverty and food insecurity in this city, and demand has increased after COVID. People are struggling to put food on their family’s tables.”

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The Sadaqa Food Bank operates out of a too-small unit in the corner of an industrial strip mall on Colonnade Road. As Ottawa’s only emergency-food service open on weekends, there’s usually a line of clients when it opens at 9 a.m.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” said Jam. The food bank serves anyone in need, with the proper documentation, regardless of religion. In the past year, more than 600 new families were added to the roster of clients.

Inside the unit, the limited space is divided between client intake, food sorting and distribution. The intake area is packed with clients, many with children in tow, waiting their turn to be processed, while volunteers try not to bump into each other as they assemble hampers in the sorting area. The garage-door entrance to the distribution area is open for volunteers to accept donations.

Sturdy shelves are loaded from floor to ceiling with non-perishable items, from diapers and formula to Kraft dinner and spaghetti sauce. Baskets of fruit and veggies sit on every available surface, and big bags of potatoes, rice and legumes are within reach. Eggs are stashed in a fridge, and vacuum-sealed packages of chicken just came out of a giant freezer. One shelf is stacked with boxes upon boxes of dates, a delicacy imbued with spirituality in Muslim culture.

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Many of the clients are newcomers to Canada, Jam said, including immigrants and refugees from African and Middle Eastern countries, and, increasingly, Ukraine and Haiti. The newcomers often show up without an appointment and must be processed first, their information added to the database managed by the Ottawa Food Bank (Sadaqa is a partner agency of the city’s main food bank.)

Now retired, Jam was working for the federal government when he and a group of friends began giving out food to people in need. It started when they met to pray at a location on Bank Street, and panhandlers would knock on the door to ask for money.

“We used to give them money but then we thought maybe we should give them food,” Jam said. “We used to buy bags of rice or flour and drop them off at people’s homes. We didn’t have many clients then.”

Demand has grown steadily over the years, and spiked during COVID, thanks to a combination of rising costs, high interest rates and job losses. “People turned to food banks, and it’s never stopped,” Jam said.

The need is especially acute during Ramadan. During the holy month, Muslims fast during the day and feast after sunset, a tradition that requires more food for each family, Jam said.

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That’s why the Ramadan food hamper that families receive is bigger than usual, with double the amount of rice, flour and coconut oil, as well as a full chicken and at least one box of dates.

Why dates? “It’s something spiritual,” said Jam. “You feel good spiritually because it was the prophet’s tradition to break the fast with a date and water after sunset.”

Every year, the organization runs a Ramadan food-basket challenge that asks community members to make their own hampers for the food bank. The list of recommended items includes large amounts of rice, flour, lentils, and cooking oil, along with a one-kilogram box of dates.

“The dates go very quickly,” Jam said. “We always need more.”

Ramadan began earlier this month and ends on Tuesday, April 9.

To find out more about the Sadaqa Food Bank, and how to help (or to ask for food), go to  sadaqafoodbankottawa.com.

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