Instead of protesting military action in Iraq through rallies and anti-war rhetoric, a group of students at the University of Michigan is looking at an often-ignored side of war.
Michigan’s Muslim Students’ Association is giving students the opportunity to aid Iraqi civilians through the university dining plan. On Feb. 16, students can sacrifice one meal credit at any university dining hall. The funds from the donated meal will go to Life for Relief and Development, a nongovernmental charity based in Southfield, Mich.
“The students give up a meal, and the university sends raw food costs — between 50 and 75 percent of the amount that would have been spent on the meal — to the organization,” said Omar Khalil, vice president of the Michigan student group.
Life for Relief and Development plans to use the donations to buy supplies for Iraqi and Syrian civilians suffering from economic sanctions and later will give the university a full report of how the money was spent. Khalil said 800 to 900 Michigan students have signed up for the drive, allowing the university to donate more than $2,000 to the organization.
The group chose Life for Relief and Development to be the beneficiary because of its proximity to the campus and its reputation for providing aid to Iraqi civilians, said Khalil. Life for Relief and Development also is working to start charitable drives for Iraq at other universities.
While Northwestern’s Muslim Cultural Students Association fund-raises regularly for the Middle Eastern region, leaders said the group has not organized similar meal allocation drives.
If the group did decide to start a drive, Shabir Abadin, McSA public relations vice president, said he is confident NU students would participate, emphasizing the enthusiastic response to last week’s Islam Awareness Week.
“Just from talking to people, they’re really interested,” said Abadin, a Weinberg senior. “If that was an option, a lot of people would do it.”
NU students have donated money from their meal plans to Chicago soup kitchens in the past. Some students group members said they would be open to the possibility of using meal points to help Iraqi relief efforts.
Jake Werner, a member of Northwestern Opposing War and Racism, said his group would want to make sure students are aware of the Iraqi situation before starting a drive.
“There’s not a widespread understanding of conditions in Iraq,” said Werner, an NU library employee. “But if we got information out to them, (students) would respond favorably.”
