In southern California, in what has become a Ramadan tradition for southern California Muslims, Muslim volunteers served 1,100 homeless during the seventh Annual Humanitarian Day in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 30.

While observing the fast themselves for Ramadan, Muslims, young and old, from across southern California volunteered their time and effort in the sweltering heat for those less fortunate.

Residents of Skid Row lined up around the block received warm greetings, food, clothing, blankets, back packs, socks, hygiene kits, free health services and much more.

Naim Shah Jr., executive director of the Ilm Foundation, was pleased with this year’s results.

"Quality was the key this year," said Naim Shah Jr. about the services being provided. "We really emphasized [to the suppliers] that we wanted to get the best [for the homeless] even if it wasn’t the same quantity."

Humanitarian Day was founded by the ILM Foundation and the Coalition to Preserve Human Dignity. It began as an effort to serve those in need during the month of Ramadan. Islamic Relief is also a major sponsor of the event now. Humanitarian Day has now turned into an international mission, offering humanitarian aid to people in 21 major cities throughout the United States and two African countries.

"We really had no idea that it [Humanitarian Day] would get this big," said Jihad Saafir, son of the founder of ILM Foundation. "We have so many volunteers now, it’s a sign from Allah that we should do this more often."

This year’s slogan, "Convert One Day into a Life Mission" reflected the ILM Foundation’s goal of providing more frequent and lasting relief to communities in need.

"Each year, the numbers of homeless in the area are getting less. They’re being pushed out due to redevelopment and gentrification," said Umar Abdul Hakeem, organizer for Humanitarian Day.

"The relationships we build will help us to develop this effort into more than one day and bring other programs to give back something positive [to the community]."