Project Ramadan aims to feed 500 Ottawa families during holy month

An initiative called Project Ramadan is aiming to feed 500 Ottawa families — and it’s the first time the charitable organization has worked in the nation’s capital.

Run by the Toronto-based Muslim Welfare Centre, the initiative first began in 2009, assembling food baskets for needy families at the time of the year that coincides with the holy month of Ramadan.

At the Ottawa Food Bank on Sunday, teams of volunteers put together 500 sets of bags, two bags to each set.

Around 50 volunteers turned out to help. Muhammad Iqbal Ali, director of the Muslim Welfare Centre, said the group doesn’t usually have to look far to find them.