DeSales Muslim Student Association Provides Aid for Humanitarian Crisis
Sixty volunteers. Two days of sorting and packing. One-hundred and twenty extra-large boxes brimming with essential goods.
This was the impact of the DeSales donation drive, benefitting victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
The DeSales Muslim Student Association spearheaded the relief efforts, in partnership with Muslim Youth of the Lehigh Valley. Their goal: to collect as many desperately needed items as possible to ship overseas—think clothes, sanitary items, textiles, food, medication, and baby supplies.
“We felt overwhelmed with the amount of support we got,” says Naila Amana ’26, a finance major. “It was empowering. As we were packing up the donations, faculty members, staff, and students came to help. A cafeteria lady even gave us sandwiches because she’d noticed we were there early.”
Also present during the collection were Zahra Imrani ’26, a biology major, and Mahinakhon Masaidova ’27 and Kubra Saymaz ’27, who are both in the medical studies to physician assistant 3+2 year program.
“Helping others generally betters a society,” says Masaidova. “By helping people in Turkey and Syria, we allow other people to be inspired and do good for the community.”
Saymaz agreed, adding, “These earthquakes and this donation drive served as a powerful reminder that we need to stay connected. This world is immaterial and in order to stay content with what we have, we need to make sure we are helping people.”
The DeSales MSA’s earthquake relief efforts are just one example of how members are modeling Salesian values. MSA strives to promote belonging and inclusivity through a combination of service outreach, education, and fun events, like the recent World Hijab Day celebration, which allowed the community to try on hijabs, apply henna tattoos, enjoy ethnic treats, and more.
“We are in a Catholic school and as Muslims, our values and DeSales’ values go hand in hand,” says Amana. “Serving others is a commandment from God and is very important to practicing Muslims. For Muslims and non-Muslims both, there’s no differentiation. … It is our duty to extend a hand and help out.”
The organization highly encourages others to speak with them about any misconceptions, biases, or questions they have about Muslims. They also implore others never to judge a whole group of people based on the actions of a few individuals.
“People tend to generalize things,” says Saymaz. “We try to put forth kindness and see the good in everyone. We are very open-minded and not just to Muslims—we want to have conversations with other groups of people and provide education.”
MSA would like to give special thanks to the following individuals and groups for helping to make the earthquake relief efforts a success:
Thomas Craig, Ph.D., associate professor; Father James Greenfield, OSFS ’84, Ed.D., president of DeSales; Alex Huynh, Ph.D., assistant professor; Father Daniel Lannen, OSFS, University chaplain and supervisor of MSA; MYLV; Linda Zerbe, vice president of student life; the division of business; and everyone else who donated items and/or their time in support of Syria and Turkey.
