Islamic Society hosts virtual interfaith Ramadan event masslive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from masslive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Islamic Society’s drive-by fundraiser to help end hunger set April 11
Updated 9:03 AM;
Today 9:03 AM
Imam Wissam Abdul-Baki, left, of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, and Asad Mahmood sort through food and other items from last year s fundraiser held at the start of Ramadan at the West Springfield center. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
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WEST SPRINGFIELD The Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts is holding its “Drive-by to End Hunger Walk” at the center, 377 Amostown Road, Sunday, April 11, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The fundraiser, being held as it was last year as a drive-by due to restrictions around the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, is hosted annually by the center to collect monetary and nonperishable food items in conjunction with the month-long fast of Ramadan.
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COVID-19 reporting can focus on numbers and trends, but there are local people behind those data points - including the cofounder of the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, a marine who fought at Okinawa, and a lifelong newsman.
The following is a closer look at the victims behind the numbers - the local people who lost their lives too early to COVID-19 in January 2021.
As COVID-19 surges across Massachusetts and the vaccine slowly rolls out, virus-related deaths persist. As of Tuesday, Jan. 19, about 13,700 people in Massachusetts had died since the start of the pandemic in winter 2020.
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Dr. Kimat Khatak, co-founder of Western Massachusetts Islamic Society, dies at 83; ‘loved by Muslims, non-Muslims’
Updated Jan 18, 2021;
Posted Jan 17, 2021
Dr. Kimat Khatak, right, who died Jan. 7, and Dr. M. Saleem Bajwa, are the Holyoke physicians who founded the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts in the early 1980s. (Republican file photo by Dave Roback)
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In the early 1980s, Dr. Kimat Khatak and Dr. M. Saleem Bajwa, two Pakistan-born Holyoke physicians, founded the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, whose West Springfield campus has grown to serve the religious and social needs of Muslim families and to host interfaith events.
“He was a sincere and strong leader as well as a down-to-earth friend,” said Bajwa of Khatak, who died Jan. 7 of complications from COVID-19. “He was loved by Muslims and non-Muslims from all walks of life.”