One of the biggest contributors to Clean Up Australia Day, the Bait-ul Had Mosque in Marsden Park, was visited by its founder Ian Kiernan over the weekend.
On Saturday night, May 7, the mosque held a special dinner with Mr Kiernan, the chief executive of Clean Up Australia Day, Terrie-Ann Johnson, and Blacktown deputy mayor Jacqueline Donaldson.
It was hosted by the Ahmaddiyya Muslim Community Australia who have been part of the day for the past 25 years.
In his speech, Mr Kiernan said Australia was proud of the Ahmaddiya Muslim Community and its participation in clean-up work for over two decades.
The Ahmadi Muslims have donated over $3600 this year for Clean Up Australia Day and had one of the highest number of volunteers across the clean-up sites.
The Association registered 20 clean-up sites this year all over neighbourhoods with hundreds of young Muslim men, women and children participating in the event.
For the last few years, the association have topped both categories in ‘most volunteers’ and ‘top fundraising’.
Mr Kiernan presented a certificate of appreciation to the national president of the association, Imam Inamul Haq Kauser.
Mr Kiernan addressed dinner attendees, and said when he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Sydney University, he was pleasantly surprised that people were able to have more than one job or career – ‘how a builder could also be a doctor’.
Like other academics, Mr Kiernan said he wanted to create an equation or formula, and came up with “E = 1”.
The E stood for Earth, he said, and if we all placed Earth as a priority then all it inhabitants could prosper.
The 2016 event saw over 682,000 volunteers participate in the event across 7117 locations across the country.
“So long as we are prepared to get involved and get our hand dirty, Clean Up events will continue to make a difference,” Mr Kiernan said.
“Clean Up belongs to the people and I am delighted that they have made the annual event the largest community mobilization activity in the country, bringing friends, families, neighbours, team-mates and colleagues together.
”[It] is made possible by support from all sectors of the community.
“We should all be proud of our outstanding success.”
The Imam, Mr Kauser, said Clean Up Australia Day is a noble work and this initiative will always be part of national moral fabric.
He said he understood Islam advocates cleanliness and advocated caring for the land and personal properties.
While Clean Up day is an annual event, maintaining a clean environment should be carried out each day.
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