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Since February last year the Queensland Muslim Welfare Association Incorporated (QMWAI), headed by President Janeth Deen, has built an award-winning reputation around providing services to people from all walks of life.

Awards Upon Awards

for Muslim Welfare Association

Its op shop clients include homeless people looking for warm clothing and bedding, single parents on the hunt for school supplies, and disadvantaged families hoping to find everything from furniture to shoes. Most are either given the items free or charged a low nominal fee. One of the group's greatest services is its assistance for new arrivals or migrants looking to establish a new home. So far the organization has helped fully furnish seven houses.

Ms Deen and Ms Wilma Bothwell, both retired teachers, run the organization's op shop where they have built a reputation for acting quickly and providing help and assistance without red tape. They are also assisted by Karima Smith.

Official public recognition of QMWAI’s achievements began last year when Crescents of Brisbane awarded Janeth Deen with the Haji Ibrahim Patel Special Achievement Award for her endless work in establishing the QLD Muslim Welfare Association shop in Woodridge. The award was received at the annual Creswalk function. The award is in honour of the good work that Imam Patel carried out in his lifetime.

In mid-November 2009 QMWAI received the Best Non-Profit Community Organisation award at the The Brisbane Indian Times Annual Multicultural Awards Dinner, held at the RNA Show Grounds.

Then, at a glittering special ceremony held on 21st of January this year at the Beenleigh Events Centre, Janeth Deen accepted the Logan City Council Australia Day Award for Outstanding Community Organization. In the audience were over 500 volunteers and business people, community groups and dignitaries. The Davida Steel Memorial Award was presented to QMWAI for the exceptional work it has done in the short period of a year since the op shop was established at the Parklands Shopping Centre at Woodridge.

"I was stunned because there were so many wonderful organizations, Boystown and the PCYC and people I couldn't imagine," Janeth Deen said. “It's been really a mammoth job to start something up when you have no experience. We're going through all the teething problems but we feel that we've achieved something."

The awards didn’t stop there. A few days later on Australia Day, the offices of Ms Judy Spence MP (Sunnybank) and Mr. Phil Reeves (Mansfield) hosted a breakfast at the Southside Sport and Community Club in Mt Gravatt. Ms Deen was there presented with the Robbie Williams Multicultural Citizen of the Year award for her charity work.

When asked what the awards meant to the QMWAI, Ms Deen replied that it was great that the Muslim community received recognition for participating in community welfare as citizens of Queensland, Australia. “It was an honour to received The Robbie Williams Award, as it is in the memory of an Indigenous citizen who worked from a disadvantaged background to become a well-known identity in Brisbane,” Ms Deen said. “To receive this award on Australia Day was the highlight of the Australia Day Awards from the local electorate,” she added.

The success of the QMWAI has been accredited to the support of Crescents Community Newsletter, the Queensland Muslim Times, and the wider community. The support from the community enabled the Welfare Shop to have free giveaways that have received media coverage in Logan. Also with the expert guidance of Crescents of Brisbane president Mustafa Ally, Ms Deen was introduced to the Ethnic Community Council of Queensland, the Multicultural Affairs Department and other associations who help the wider community. This introduction resulted in the QMWAI being able to reach the needy and work hand in hand with government departments and other community groups.

Ms Deen said that QMWAI has also attributed its success to one of the pillars of Islam: that all the people are equal when charity must be distributed. “We do not discriminate amongst different races. If a needy person comes for help they receive it immediately with no red tape. This has built a positive support for the work of QMWA Inc,” she said.

In November 2009 the QMWAI agreed to come under the umbrella of the Muslim Charitable Foundation. This association was formed to help the needy in the Muslim community, working hand-in-hand with Muslim organizations to become united for the betterment of all. Muslims need to be able to turn to their own people for help, and charity begins at home. The Muslim Charitable Foundation has dedicated members who are working selflessly to establish a strong organisation, which the community must support so it can carry out this important pillar of Islam.