Muslim students give back by serving the homeless monthly

Every other Friday during the school year for the past four years, a group of Muslim students have gathered in a small mosque gymnasium to give back to the community.

The goal is to uphold the teachings of Islam, but its most recent meeting held even more significance.

Project Downtown, hosted by the MSU Muslim Students’ Association, or MSA, is a biweekly gathering where participants make lunches for the homeless in Lansing shelters, complete with bologna sandwiches, grapes and cookies for desert.

The group chose Sept. 11 — the 8th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks — to begin the year’s round of visits to local shelters as part of a nationwide effort to demonstrate that Muslims shouldn’t be held to the stereotype established by a few extremists, said Authra Khreis, MSA’s community service head.

“What happened on Sept. 11, that wasn’t Islam, that’s not what it’s about,” said Khreis, a medical technology junior. “Serving God is serving others in need.”

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