TUBOD, Lanao del Norte, Nov. 6 (PIA) – Today’s beef sharing is in line with the Festival of Sacrifice, which is celebrated in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son Isaac.       

Such was as an act of obedience to God, who upon seeing Abraham’s faith intervened and instead provided a lamb to be sacrificed.

This was how Ferhat Kazkondo, President of the Integrated Center for Alternative Developments (ICAD) Foundation, who described the Festival of Sacrifice as a tradition for both Muslim and Turkish people all around the world.

“The festival is likened to Christmas for the Christians as it wants to feed people who are among the poor and those who are needing help,” he said.

Through this festival, ICAD Foundation extends help and assistance to the people in need and their families by giving them an amount of beef, which will help sustain their need for food, for a period of time.

Meanwhile, Kazkondo said the ICAD Foundation began the beef sharing in 1997, where about 20 heads of cows were provided. However, in the past years, the foundation increased the number of cows to not less than 400 and shared with more than 10,000 families each year.

This is because through the activities of ICAD Foundation, more people were able to know the Philippines better and extend their assistance to the country through the Foundation.

A private, non-profit, non-stock organization, ICAD Foundation is established under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 16, 1996.
Currently, it has three (3) campuses offering elementary and secondary education under its administration in the Philippines: The Filipino-Turkish Tolerance School located in Zamboanga City, established in 1997 and two (2) schools in Manila established in 2002 and 2006, respectively.

All aforementioned schools apply the ideals and Philosophy of the foundation, built on the belief that peace and understanding among students of different nationalities, religion and diverse cultural backgrounds can be achieved through quality and contemporary education.

To date, the students of these schools have won many achievements in the Philippines and abroad.

Other than advocacy for quality education, the ICAD Foundation is established to extend assistance and concern for the welfare of those who are less fortunate among the members of the society in which it belongs.

As such, members of the foundation are committed to fulfill their social responsibility through different means of charitable works and services to the community.

For the last 13 years, ICAD  shared beef with thousands of less fortunate families in Zamboanga, Davao and Manila.

This year, the ICAD Foundation is not alone in this charitable activity. It has a sister foundation called Pacific Dialogue Foundation (PDF) which is also a private, non-profit, non-stock organization established under the SEC, on Aug. 18, this year.

The PDF serves societal peace, love, and friendship wisely and compassionately in support of human dignity and the common good by striving to bring forth the common values of humanity, such as, understanding, tolerance, respect and compassion. (PIA-10)