As the holiday season unfolds, faith communities across Metro Detroit are coming together to ensure hundreds of local families experience warmth, generosity and connection. An initiative is set to combat the pressure low-income families face during the holiday season in the Detroit area and its surrounding neighborhoods. The Michigan Muslim Community Council (MMCC), alongside several partner organizations, is leading its annual Days of Ihsan campaign, an interfaith initiative that will provide holiday gifts and food assistance to more than 300 families on Christmas Day. Beginning at 9 a.m. on December 25, volunteers will distribute gifts and food cards to families throughout Detroit. St. Stephen Lutheran Church will serve as the campaign’s distribution center, offering both home deliveries and a drive-through option for families needing additional support.

Volunteers from across the community, made up of various faith groups such as Muslims, Jews and Christians, will play a crucial part in supporting underprivileged families and helping them overcome their seasonal struggles.

Since 2007, the Days of Ihsan Campaign, founded by Dr. Muzammil Ahmed, MMCC chair emeritus, has been a monumental charity service addition to the community and its volunteers for many years. According to local community organizations, many Detroit families continue to face rising food costs and economic instability, making holiday assistance programs like Days of Ihsan especially vital during the winter months. Moreover, “Ihsan”, an Arabic word meaning excellence in character or action, has been demonstrated throughout the campaign’s operation and has helped bridge the gap between different faiths across the community who come together with a shared goal of aiding families in need.

“Many parents simply can’t afford gifts or extra groceries during the holidays,” said Project Coordinator Husain Haidri. “This campaign helps relieve that pressure and allows families to focus on being together.”

With that being said, the campaign is set to provide an array of Christmas toys, entertainment and food gift cards to impoverished or needy families on Christmas Day. 

“Days of the Ihsan campaign are about promoting the best actions or ‘Ihsan’ during the holiday season,” Ahmed said. “We partner with our friends of all faiths to help local struggling families. It is heartwarming to see the impact of these small acts of kindness, and it reminds us what we can accomplish if we keep working together as a community.”

While the campaign takes place on Christmas Day, its message extends beyond any single tradition, seeking to highlight compassion, service and unity by extending a hand to underprivileged families everywhere.

These in-need families are identified by a combination of on-the-ground teams, community-based organizations and specific eligibility criteria that ensure aid reaches the most vulnerable. With families bracing themselves for an uneventful
Christmas Day, it is urgent that the community band together to help elicit a comfortable and happy holiday for all.

Along with the Christmas toys, the Days of Ihsan campaign will distribute $25 food gift cards. However, due to an extra supply, families will receive several food cards instead of just one.  These gifts will be brought in with the assistance of local organizations partnered with the MMCC.

This year’s campaign is especially significant as one of the event’s long-term supporters, James (Jimmy) Tuman, founder of Jimmy’s Kids, passed away in November at the age of 84, inspiring the MMCC and its partners to honor and continue his legacy of bringing people together across all types of faith and supporting the community he cared about so dearly.

Other organizations assisting the Ihsan Campaign include Helping Hands, The Amity Foundation, The North Star Collective, The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the newest addition, The National Organization of Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS). MAPS has partnered as a sponsor this year, to assist more than 300 low-income families over the span of Christmas Day. The interfaith volunteer community can join together to realize the true meaning of the holiday season by instilling belonging, empathy and generosity across communities and amongst families in Detroit.

“My team and I are proud to see our community come out on Christmas day to support our neighbors,” MAPS Michigan Chapter President Machhadie Assi said. “Public Service is woven into our faith, and caring for others’ joy is a shared value that transcends holidays and backgrounds.”

To help support the campaign, be a volunteer or for more information, email michigan@mapsnational.org or muzammil68@gmail.com. You can also reach out on their Instagram, @MAPSMichigan. Toy sorting or food pantry volunteering are just a couple of ways you can make a difference this holiday season. As volunteers load cars, knock on doors and share smiles across neighborhoods, the Days of Ihsan campaign continues to serve as an enlightening time for all people of faiths across the community and a hopeful moment for anyone in need.

– Resilient Neighborhoods is a reporting and engagement series that examines how Detroit residents and community development organizations are working together to strengthen local neighborhoods. This story was originally produced and published by Model D Media and is reprinted in New Michigan Media newspapers through a partnership supported by the Kresge Foundation.