Arizona’s Eid Gift Wrapping Event an Overnight Success

By Nidah Chatriwala, TMO

Photo Caption: Helping Hand Relief and Development Eid Gift Wrapping Event at Islamic Community Center of Tempe.  Photo courtesy Helping Hand Relief and Development

On July 7, Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) organized an event at Islamic Community Center of Tempe inviting girls from ages 10 to 16 to gift wrap Eid gifts for refugee sisters in Syria.
This concept of gift giving was suggested by HHRD’s dedicated intern, Anisa Abdul Quadir.

“We’re trying to send some smiles to Syrian refugees who may not have a very good Eid. Our other goal is for us to spread greater awareness of Helping Hand in Phoenix,” said Quadir.

As preteens walked in, they saw a room filled with tables with unique items. Each table was marked as a station with instructions on how many items can be added from it into the gift package.
On Station #1, gift bags were present along with calculators, puzzle boxes, pens and personal notebooks.

Station #2 had colorful pencil pouches, putty, slinky and bubble bottles.

Station #3 seemed to have the most stoppers as it offered hard candy, not inflated balloons, hair-ties, candles, stickers and more.

When the young helpers reached Station #4, they used their creativity to create personalized Eid cards to include in the gift bags. They wrote heartfelt messages and drew hearts next to their names in hopes of cheering a sister in another part of the world with their kind gesture.

After the cards were placed in overflowing gift bags, volunteers tied colorful ribbons on their lovingly made Eid packages at Station #5 before dropping it in the delivery box.

Toward the end of the one-hour long event, the room was filled with gift packages and all stations were clear. The Eid gifts were then put into HHRD’s blue carrier for delivery.

“Eid wrapping event went well…at the end we got a good list of volunteers; inshallah I will try to stay in touch with them, and see who can be of use to us,” said HHRD’s Phoenix Liaison, Gul Siddiqi.
According to Siddiqi, the gifts have been shipped and will be delivered and distributed in Jordan in time for Eid-Ul-Fitr.

To learn more about Helping Hand for Relief and Development, visit: www.hhrd.org

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