video transcript

Preparing food for the hungry during Ramadan. For the past seven years a Virginia based muslim organization has been holding a food drive for those in need. Hundreds of people line up in the scorching summer heat outside the Herndon, Virginia Library. The "Herndon Without Hunger 2011" event is part of the FAITH group's outreach during the holy month of Ramadan - a period Muslims mark by fasting from sunrise to sunset. FAITH, stands for the Foundation for Immediate and Appropriate Temporary Help. Somayyah Ghariani is FAITH's fundraising coordinator. SOUNDBITE: Somayyah Ghariani is FAITH's fundraising coordinator,, saying (Arabic): "This is the seventh year that we do this. For a whole month, once a week, we distribute food to all the people who come. We welcome people of all religions, all people, all ages, and we do it at the library so that it's free. Of course we try to bring together the whole community, volunteers come from churches and everywhere to help us distribute the food to all those who are in need in the community." FAITH volunteers, most of whom are fasting all day, handed out some basic goods to people like rice and canned goods. Plenty of people are looking for help, something that surprises 19-year old Maysam Abu Suleiman who is visiting for the summer from Saudi Arabia. SOUNDBITE: Maysam Abu Suleiman, saying (Arabic): "With all honesty, I had no idea that there are people here who go hungry, who suffer from poverty and hunger. It turns out that in America (they do), even though they have taxes and all that, in Saudi Arabia we don't have these problems, you don't sense people there suffer, but here they do." On Monday's food drive more than 800 people showed up. FAITH ran out of food for the first time. Many were told to come back next week. Nadine Alfa, reuters