Tuesday, April 17, 2018

USA: Muslims for Life blood drive commemorates Boston Marathon bombing victims


The national Muslims for Life blood drive has collected more than 50,000 pints of blood across the country in commemoration of tragedies like 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings, the community said.

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Metro US
By Kristin Toussaint | April 16, 2018

The fifth annual Boston Muslims for Life blood drive will be held Wednesday at Boston City Hall.

It’s been five years since the Boston Marathon bombings, and a local group continues to host a blood drive in honor of those affected.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Boston Chapter will host its fifth annual “Muslims for Life” blood drive at Boston City Hall on Wednesday, April 18.

This drive is part of the national Muslims for Life campaign, which the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community began in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

On the tenth anniversary of that tragedy, the community kicked off a national campaign to honor those victims and to “emphasize Islam’s essential teaching regarding the sanctity of life,” according to their website.

The national blood drive has collected more than 50,000 pints of blood across the country in commemoration of tragedies like 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombings, the community said.

Muslims for Life partners with the American Red Cross, the Boston Athletic Association, the Kraft Family Blood Donor Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston’s Children Hospital and more.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is headquartered in the United Kingdom and has more than 70 chapters in the United States.

The organization has positioned itself as one that “categorically rejects terrorism,” according to its website, and members have spoken out in the wake of tragedies as well as policy shifts that have affected the Muslim community.

After President Donald Trump announced an executive order restricting Muslim refugees in Jan. 2017, one member of the community, Kashif Chaudhry,  wrote an op-ed for Huff Post.

Touching on the Muslims for Life campaign, Chaudhry wrote, “The aim of this initiative was to commemorate 9/11 victims and to honor their memories by shedding blood ― our own. As an organizer, I set up tens of blood drives with keen participation from members of the Muslim ― and non-Muslim ― communities.”

Chaudhry then moved to Boston in 2013 to pursue a cardiology fellowship, he wrote, and helped expand that effort to remember the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

“In the 7.5 years of my clinical training and practice in the United States, I have had the opportunity to care for thousands of fellow Americans,” he wrote in 2017. “And I am not alone. There are tens of thousands of Muslims like me, grateful for America’s refuge, and busy serving its people ― their people.”

Wednesday’s blood drive will be from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Boston City Hall.


Read original post here: USA: Muslims for Life blood drive commemorates Boston Marathon bombing victims


This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Times of Ahmad. Times of Ahmad is not an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.

Top read stories during last 7 days

Disclaimer!

THE TIMES OF AHMAD is NOT an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites. Times of Ahmad is an independently run and privately managed news / contents archival website; and does not claim to speak for or represent the official views of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Times of Ahmad assumes full responsibility for the contents of its web pages. The views expressed by the authors and sources of the news archives do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Times of Ahmad. All rights associated with any contents archived / stored on this website remain the property of the original owners.