MuslimKidsMatter | Muslim Youth Helping Neighbors and Having Fun: Please Vote!

Loud, friendly chatter fills up a large, brightly-lit room as people scatter about.  As they pass through the room into the next to make way for a large group of newcomers, a collective gasp of amazement suddenly issues forth.  The chatter and laughter miraculously die down as everyone stares ahead wide-eyed.

An eight-foot sculpture appears, clearly in the shape of a water well with a bright orange bucket hanging from the top.  A low fence surrounds the well with the words “Water is Life” in front.  As the observers lean closer for a better look, they are startled when they realize that the bricks of the well and fence are actually food cans!  And the letters were clearly shaped out of juice boxes!  What is this amazing genius of engineering before their eyes, they wonder.  Can it really be that they are looking at a well made out of cans?

This sculpture has actually been in display at the Zakat Foundation Delaware Community Center for the past few days.  The youth can project team members have anxiously watched as amazed fans of our well continuously edge closer to the sculpture, a truly frustrating action that worries us to no end.  Alhamdulillah, however, our well is still standing and has survived this past week to enter the judging phase of the DelawareCAN competition.

Having created a prizewinning masjid out of pasta boxes and tomato cans last year for the contest, we entered the competition a few months ago feeling a certain pressure this time around.  After our can sculpture from last year demonstrated the spirit of giving in Islam through the words “Feed the Poor” on our masjid, we felt compelled to again display a strong message in a magnificent sculpture for this year’s competition.  Realizing that participating in the contest would not only give us a chance to gain the special honor of being a winning group, but also the opportunity to spread a positive message about Muslims, we had a big responsibility and a whole lot of work cut out for us.

Through weekly meetings, many back-and-forth emails, dozens of sketches and plans, we eventually reached our goal, creating a magnificent well, complete with a roof, bucket, and fence.  Oh, and grass, too.  After hours and hours of working on our sculpture, we finally had our finished product standing in front of us.  After all those arguments and complaints (what do you expect from kids of ages 5-16 all working together) and tiresome hours (re-stacking cans after they topple over gets annoying after about the third time around), we finally had our well.

We had a break for a few days to admire our sculpture, and now the next stage of our contest is on…

Time to collect votes!  Now we are asking you to help us out.  No matter where in the world you live, what kinds of cans you eat out of, or what your favorite color is, you can help us win the People’s Choice Award.  All you have to do is click on the picture above or follow this link and like our well.  (Note: You will need a Facebook account.)  Please don’t blunder and like the entire album or make another such error.  We need you to help us now, to be there for us and to show us you care.  Thank you for taking the time (which should be a total of about two seconds) to give Muslim youth your support.

Friday at 12 noon (USA Eastern time) is the deadline.delawa