What members of the Bangladeshi-American community did during the blizzard wasn’t the first time they embraced the “City of Good Neighbors” moniker of their adopted Buffalo hometown.
But it was the first time they were fined while doing so.
Some 30 to 40 volunteers evacuated hundreds of people during the blizzard, removing them from hazardous conditions and providing them warm shelter and food.
But they ran afoul of the travel ban and got caught in a ticketing blitz meant to keep drivers off the streets.
When all was said and done, the Bangladeshi-American Community Rescue Team racked up $4,500 in tickets for driving when it was prohibited.
“We knew there was a travel ban, but we didn’t care because our people needed help,” said Mohammed Osman Shimul, a member of what he calls the Bangladeshi Group.
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By “our people,” he doesn’t mean fellow Bangladeshis. He means fellow Buffalonians.
The group’s members knocked door-to-door to check on residents, and also made requested spot checks and house calls. They drove seven vans over nearly a week on main roads, then walked on side streets. The volunteers based their operations near Erie County Medical Center, but also helped people on the West Side and Cheektowaga, as well.
“Wherever people needed help, my team was there,” Shimul said.
From left, Asharul Maksud, Fazlul Karim, Shipu Chaklader, MD Mamun, Manik Mojumdar, Aziz Ahmed, Mohammed Shahid Ullah, Muqtadir Hussain Misbah, and Mohammed Osman Shimul stand for a portrait outside Lovebirds restaurant in Buffalo, December 29, 2022. The men were part of a group of 30 to 40 people from the Bangladeshi community who during the blizzard rescued people, providing them food, water, shelter and transportation. They brought hundreds of people to nearly 10 shelters they set up.
Overall, Shimul said, they transported nearly 500 people from their homes to a network of warming centers the group set up at several Bangladeshi-owned businesses, buildings and homes. The places included the Bangladesh Plaza on Bailey Avenue, the Desi Center on Fougeron Street and the Al Aqsa supermarket on Fillmore Avenue.
“People have to help each other. We all have our own duty,” he said.
Once electricity and heat were back up and running, the group started transporting people back home – but not empty-handed. Those who were rescued went home with hot meals, groceries – even pocket money, Shimul said.
“The volunteers, we put together whatever we had to share,” he said. “People couldn’t go to work because of the snow, so they will not get paid.”
Even now, the group is delivering hot meals and offering them free for pickup from Lovebirds restaurant on Grider Street.
Carlanda Meadors is a Peacemaker and a spokesperson for the youth engagement group Most Valuable Parents, which works with the Bangladeshi Group to improve relations among the Black community and Bangladeshi immigrants.
“They’re very understanding, and they have no problem helping,” she said. “They do whatever is necessary for our community, and, because of that, I love them.”
Snowed in herself, Meadors has been handling calls and coordinating help for those in need. As the Bangladeshi Group deployed resources and rescued those stranded or without heat, Meadors matched them with people who needed the help.
“The Bengali community has a lot of restaurants, so they started cooking food and decided they would deliver it free to anybody,” she said. “So they asked us, ‘Who are the people who need food to eat?’ “
Hot meals provided to the community by the Buffalo Bangladeshi American Emergency Rescue Team.
Despite the thaw and restored power, the work isn’t done, yet.
Meadors paired a group of GYC Ministries volunteers shoveling snow on the East Side with the Bangladeshi Group’s food delivery Thursday.
“While you wait and we shovel you out, you can have some good food to eat,” she said. “Everyone thinks things are back to normal, but not if people still can’t get anywhere.”
Meanwhile, Shimul said he plans to appeal the tickets.
But if $4,500 is the price to pay for doing good deeds, he’s OK with that.
“We love this community,” he said.
Read More:Bangladeshi community rescued, sheltered and fed hundreds affected by blizzard – and racked up $4,500 in driving ban
2022-12-29 21:52:00
