After dealing with an unprecedented spring semester filled with stress, remote learning and pandemic worries, many students are understandably taking summer off to reset and recharge. Farjaad and Sajjaad Azam are not two of them.
The Carroll Dragon brothers came together last month to start an initiative where they sew masks for a fee and donate the funds toward a particular cause.
“The reason that we wanted to do this is that the world isn’t really in a working state right now,” Sajjaad says. “We wanted to help bring it back. Even if we won’t single-handedly fix everything, it’s still better to contribute than to do nothing.”
In their first month of operation, Farjaad and Sajjaad sold 100 masks and donated $500 in humanitarian aid toward Yemen, which has 1,294 confirmed cases and 328 deaths from COVID-19, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
“They pick a different cause each month because there is just so much that they want to help with,” their mother Saeeda says. “They felt that it would be better to support and help raise awareness about causes that aren't on the front pages of newspapers or in the headlines of news channels.”
Next month the boys will focus on domestic violence, more specifically with SafeHaven of Tarrant County. While Farjaad doesn’t know how much longer he will be able to do this since he is leaving to study at Texas Tech University in the fall, Farjaad says he’ll help for as long as he can and looks forward to continuing to work alongside his brother during breaks.
“I really am proud of the work I’ve done to help during the pandemic,” Farjaad says. “I just wish I could do more. We really appreciate the support and hope to keep giving back to the community.”
If you want to donate money and fabric or learn how else you can support them, visit the brothers’ Instagram, @MaskForCause.