Syrian refugees mark first Ramadan in Toronto with comfort food from home

Two Toronto groups are helping Syrian refugees celebrate their first Ramadan in Toronto.

The holy month for Muslims, during which they will refrain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset, begins on Tuesday.

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"Ramadan is such an important holiday for these families," SAV's Sam Jisri said in a statement. "Receiving a Ramadan basket will make them feel welcome because it acknowledges — in a way that other charitable acts do not — their own culture and heritage. It tells them that in here in Canada, families who observe are just as welcome as anyone else." 

The Clothing Drive's Julie Mahfouz told CBC's Here And Now Friday that her group will fill each basket with rice, meat, hummus, baba ghanoush, dates and olive oil.

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"These are foods that are consumed at the start and at the end of the fast," Mahfouz said, adding that it "would be very difficult to buy these items. As we've seen, there have been challenges with food and a lot of them have been going to food banks and trying to get these foods."

 Mahfouz said The Clothing Drive plans on giving more than four kilograms of meat to each family.  

"We wanted to do something that was plentiful, that would be enough for these large families, something specific to their diet and would help them during this time and help them think of home as well," she said.

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Mahfouz offered some advice to Canadians who are privately sponsoring Syrian refugees and who would like to help them mark Ramadan.

"These are great foods," she said. "You can't go wrong with what we've listed in our baskets. Being able to get any of these or all of these would be lovely for a family."