Donations increase to Charlotte Islamic Center highlighted in viral TikTok video
The test was simple: could the Islamic Center of Charlotte spare some baby formula for a 2-month old or not?
He didn’t know he was being recorded, but an office manager answering phones at the community center, located on Progress Lane in east Charlotte, passed the test.
“We can, ma’am,” the man said. “Where do you live?”
It was all a part of a social experiment being posted to TikTok, according to the woman who called, playing baby crying sounds in the background. After agreeing to send formula, Nikalie Monroe explained to the man that she was calling churches and religious groups to see how they responded to requests for baby formula for her made up baby.
The Islamic Center was one of a few that agreed to help, while many other churches and religious groups turned her down.
Since then, donations have increased, people have flooded the center with calls to praise them, and Google reviews have gone up, said Jibril Hough, a leader at the center.
“Our response was the correct response. We are supposed to give,” Hough told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday. “And it’s the kind of response that we’ve done throughout the years.”
Hough said he would expect most Islamic centers or mosques would be ready to help in the same way. But the Charlotte center, like others, doesn’t typically publicize these types of good deeds. Regularly helping others, Muslim or not, is part of practicing Islam, he said.
But he welcomed the “organic,” positive reaction that came out of the video and said the video created a positive public perception of Muslims.
Muslims from around the world, including Australia, have reached out to thank the center, he said.
“It’s a simple, simple thing that we do all the time,” Hough said.
He said didn’t know the total of the new donations.
And because of the positive reaction, the center decided to go further and host a food drive soon, Hough said. A date hasn’t been set, but information will be posted on the center’s website and Facebook page.
