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Local Non-Profit Promotes Warmth and Community Amidst Chilly Weather Local non-profit promotes warmth and community amidst chilly weather

By Isabel Flores

A banner depicting Sandwich Saturday and hands holding hearts.
© 2023 Isabel Flores

Al-Amin Muhammad: Welcome to Sandwich Saturdays, y’all! Welcome, welcome.

Isabel Flores: While weather in Syracuse is
freezing cold, the non-profit organization “We Rise Above the
Streets” is bringing warmth to the community with Sandwich Saturdays. Sandwich Saturdays aim to provide basic necessities for individuals in Syracuse. Volunteers meet at Lincoln Middle School ready to make sandwiches to bring to the community. Founder of We Rise Above the Streets, Al-Amin Muhammad started his efforts eight years ago.

Muhammad: When I first started Sandwich Saturday, I was in a small office space and like 20 to 25 people would come. We’d make like 100 sack lunches.

Flores: Now, Muhammad says We Rise
Above the Streets makes about five times that and usually has upwards of 100 volunteers come out each week.

Muhammad: It’s been a journey. It’s been a journey, man.

Flores: Once all the sandwiches are bagged and made, everyone sets out to Billings Park. Volunteers like Joe Tastrom see the value in Muhammad’s mission to spread kindness and awareness.

Joe Tastrom: My favorite part is after we make the sandwiches, and go down to Billings Park. And we get to circulate, talk, communicate with the community out there.

Flores: We Rise completely transforms Billings Park and even provides an extra snack or even a beanie to those who need it.

Muhammad: Hey, how y’all doin?

Flores: Volunteers distribute the sandwiches, more food, clothing, shoes and other items. The issue of helping those in need is personal to Muhammad. He fell in to tough times when he was younger and resorted to gang activity and dealing drugs just to get by.

Muhammad: When I finally got out of prison, probably like the fifth, sixth time in prison, I decided to leave everything that I was doing negativity, to turn and have a productive, positive life. But, it ended up me being homeless as well.
I told myself that I’m gonna help people for the rest of my life. Cause I don’t want nobody going through what I went through. And for eight years, we did a damn good job, right?

Flores: In Syracuse, Isabel Flores, N-C-C News.

 SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — If we eat, they eat.

That’s the slogan of one of Syracuse’s very own non-profit organizations that helps to feed those that can’t feed themselves.

We Rise Above the Streets was started by Al-Amin Mohammad eight years ago.

Muhammad knows firsthand what it’s like not knowing when or where the next meal was coming from.

He was homeless for a while but was able to meet people that led him in the right direction.

“It guided me to meet a lot of good people. My social worker, and a lot of mentors, and ended up creating my own organization,” he says.

Volunteers meet at Lincoln Middle School every Saturday to make ham and cheese sandwiches to distribute them in Billings Park.

Muhammad says that all sorts of individuals come to Billings Park each week, ranging from seniors to babies.

Since COVID, Muhammad says he has seen an increase in children suffering from poverty.

“It’s pretty hard for me as a director to hold my emotions, because when you see kids, you’re like ‘wow’,” he says.

“You know, you’re trying to keep a straight face and you’re trying to encourage them. But it really hurts to see a lot of children out there.”

Muhammad remembers when there used to be about 20 volunteers each week, but he says there are usually upwards of 100 now.

Due to the amount of donations and supplies received by We Rise, the organization had to change its location due to lack of space.

We Rise’s new location in East Syracuse is much bigger and can hold much more donations, as well as people.

With this new building, Muhammad will host classes for individuals to help them get back on their feet.

“What the classes are going to be about is about giving everybody some tools to improve the quality of their lives.”

The classes are set to begin on the third week of February.

 

 

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