The event begins at 7:30 p.m. with Mr. Smidi’s remarks followed by the community meal, featuring such Islamic food as biryani rice, shish tawook, kafta, hummus, and fattoush. It takes place in the Dining Hall inside the school’s Boehm Building at its Reynolds Road campus. Register at https://bit.ly/43aqvrT.

Maumee Valley’s dinner is the oldest student-run Iftar event in northwest Ohio. The school, which offers 15 grades from PreKindergarten through 12th grade, is the only one in northwest Ohio closed on Eid al-Fitr (April 10), the Muslim celebration marking the end of the month-long, dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.

“Our event is both a celebration of Ramadan and an opportunity to share the culture and teachings of Islam with the Toledo area,” said Rami Ridi, a junior and one of the co-organizers of the event.

“Maumee Valley has more than 25 Muslim families, and our dinner gives Muslim students a chance to not only feast together during Ramadan, but also to share our traditions with other families and classmates,” said Noureddin Eltahawy, a senior and the other co-organizer.

 

Mr. Smidi will talk about Islam and what it means to be a Muslim. He is a member of the 2019 class of “20 under 40 Toledo” and recently completed his doctoral degree in organizational communication at Bowling Green State University. He also has served on the Ottawa Hills Board of Education. He is an advisory board member to The University of Toledo Family Business Center and an advisor to Alpha Lambda Mu, the first Muslim-interest fraternity in the United States.