The Los Medanos College Muslim Student Association held a charity basketball game between LMC and Delta Valley College to benefit those in need in both Palestine and Afghanistan on Friday, May 9. The charity aspect of the game was to benefit both the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and the Support Life Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting those in need in Afghanistan.
The event was well attended by students and community members from both schools, which made the game very exciting to watch as attendees cheered on their own team.
Both teams were made up of members of their respective schools and were playing to benefit the event, but that does not mean the competition was not intense.
LMC dominated the first half of the game but DVC put up a good fight. Ending the half at 36-25 in favor of LMC. During halftime, members of the audience were invited to participate in a 3-point competition for the chance to win a giftcard.
The second half was far closer, with DVC closing to tie with 7 minutes left, but LMC managed to pull ahead to win 71-55.
The game was a charity event but by the end of the game both schools’ supporters were on their feet, fired up for the last couple minutes.
“LMC on top!” announced Helena Neyazi, LMC’s MSA president, as the game came to a close.
As Neyazi thanked everyone for coming, a paper with a QR code for donations was passed around the smiling crowd.
“It was a good game, everyone played well,” said Omar Nabkel, a player on the LMC team. Nabkel made the last shot of the game, a buzzer-beater from half court, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. “My favorite part was that last shot for sure,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it was for fun,” said Haafiz “Fiz” Mojaddedi, a player on the DVC team. “We are all in it together, so I’m glad I came.”
Overall, the organizers of the event were very pleased.
“It went a lot better than I was expecting,” said Omar Slayyeh. “It was the first event that I ran that was open to the general public.”
More than 70 people were in attendance, according to Slayyeh.
“It was the best event I’ve ever held,” said Neyazi. “We’ve had many events in the past where we’ve had 50 plus people, but this one specifically was very special.”
The plan is to split the donations 50-50 between the PCRF in Palestine and the Support Life Foundation in Afghanistan, said Neyazi.
The PCRF, one of the charities the event will benefit from, was founded in 1991 to help Palestinian children in need. The organization focuses on running, repairing, and constructing hospitals for Palestinian children, with a focus on the Gaza Strip, where most of the heavy fighting is taking place.
Unfortunately due to an Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza strip, the money cannot be utilized yet, according to Slayyeh. “The intention is to have the money go towards aid, but nothing is confirmed yet.”
The Support Life Foundation is active in Afghanistan and works to improve quality of life for those in need across the board.
Both the LMC and DVC MSA hope the money helps at a time when it is sorely needed.
“I’ve always been a basketball fan,” Neyazi said. “I was like, ‘If someone could benefit from it, then I would love for that to happen.’”
