Canadian Muslims offer hundreds of donated winter coats to underprivileged people, local shelters

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Tuesday 13 Oct 2015 - 12:12 Makkah mean time-30-12-1436 (Image from google and CBC) Halifax, Canada (IINA) - Muslims in Halifax city in the Eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia have collected hundreds of donated winter coats, offering a warmer winter to underprivileged people and local shelters, according to media reports. Meeting on Sunday at Mic Mac Mall in Halifax, Muslim volunteers launched "Coats for Humanity" drive between noon and 5pm. By the end of the event, over 700 coats were donated. “Lots of people suffered last winter by not having adequate coats, so our goal today was to try to provide as many Haligonians with a warm coat before the winter hits,” Asraa El-Darahali, the coordinator for Coats for Humanity, told Global News on Sunday. The group is continuing to collect donations until the end of the month at Dalhousie University’s dentistry building; St. Mary’s University’s the language centre, and interfaith prayer room; SimplyCast; and Bedford Orthodontics. “We’re coming together as one community; people from different races, religions, backgrounds, just coming together for the main goal of helping those in need,” said El-Darahali, adding that she hopes to turn Coats for Humanity into an annual event. Muslims make up around 1.9 percent of Canada's some 32.8 million population. Their number has increased dramatically over the last decade and Islam has become the number one non-Christian faith in Canada. A recent survey showed that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are proud to be Canadian, and that they are more educated than the general population. SM/IINA