The GIANTS have opened their doors to more than 200 guests for the club’s annual Iftar dinner at the Learning Life Centre.
The Iftar is the evening meal which celebrates Muslims ending their daily Ramadan fast at sunset.
“Today we come here to break fast with the Muslim community,” GIANTS Head of Community Ali Faraj said.
“It’s a great initiative we put on last year and we’ve continued it this year, it’s a great way to connect with the Muslim community.
“The GIANTS have opened up our home at the Learning Life Centre for the wider community of Western Sydney.”
After the success of last year’s inaugural Iftar dinner, this year’s event was held with guests including Richmond player and Australia Post Multicultural Ambassador Bachar Houli, a practicing Muslim, Hon Michael Keenan MP, AFL Commissioner Jason Ball and AFL GM People, Customer and Community Dorothy Hisgrove.
GIANTS midfielder and Australia Post Multicultural Ambassador Stephen Coniglio was in attendance, along with CEO David Matthews, coach Leon Cameron, assistant coach Luke Power and Football Operations Manager Simon Katich.
“As a club the GIANTS, and through programs like GIANTS Care, really do want to connect with the diversity and the communities in Western Sydney,” GIANTS CEO David Matthews said.
“We’re very keen as an AFL club to make sure that the community understand that we’re here for the long haul.
“We’re here to benefit the community and we’re not just here to play games of football. We’re here to be a great community citizen and that’s what GIANTS Care is about.”
There were people from a variety of backgrounds at the event including representatives from the Vietnamese, Sudanese and Indian communities, among others.
Students from Unity Grammar College in Austral and Granville Boys High School helped prepare and serve the food throughout the day with many of their students fasting for Ramadan as well.
Bachar Houli opened proceedings with a call to prayer, a unique experience for young GIANT Stephen Coniglio.
“It’s been overwhelming, when Bachar came in and started proceedings off and did the prayer call,” Coniglio said.
“It’s been a pretty humbling experience and seeing a different culture as well.”
It’s the first time Houli has attended the event and the Richmond star praised the community work of the GIANTS.
“It’s a fantastic initiative,” Houli said.
“The club is really focused on giving back to the community and I think in this region there is probably no better way to give back to the Islamic community and to make them a part of it.
“It definitely makes me feel proud to be a Muslim, from Melbourne, hearing that.”
Guest Mazen Fahme is like many from a non-AFL background, connecting with the club through their off-field work in the local community.
“This is my second Iftar dinner and to see the AFL and GIANTS getting quite aggressively deeply into Western Sydney’s multicultural community,” he said.
“Their strategy is quite unique and I think it’s working well.
“Despite being a supporter of NRL teams for 30 years, I’ve never seen a sporting organisation quite genuinely and quite aggressively infiltrate into the community.”
The Iftar dinner was held as a key pillar of the club’s social inclusion program as part of GIANTS Care - a major community initiative that will see the club double its community outcomes and further enrich the lives of people in Western Sydney. Click here to find out more.
