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Annual Day of Caring brunches raise money for Miami Valley’s needy

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By John Nolan, Staff Writer 2:13 PM Sunday, February 26, 2012

WASHINGTON TWP., Montgomery County — The Day of Caring, an annual series of pancake brunches convened to raise money to help hungry and homeless people, took on a Middle Eastern flavor at one of the sites Sunday.

More than 40 locations across the Miami Valley hosted the breakfast meals. Last year’s event raised about $40,000 in support of hunger and emergency housing organizations.

The Dayton Arab-American Forum hosted one of the gatherings Sunday, using the occasion at Miami Valley School as a cultural exchange opportunity to allow visitors to sample Middle Eastern food, instead of pancakes. The fare included falafel, hummus, baba ghanouj, tabbouli and a baklava-like dessert served in the form of lady fingers.

The organization sold 175 tickets in advance and received 20 walk-up participants in the first hour, said Ralla Shrit, a board member of the Dayton Arab-American Forum who helped organize the event. The attendance boosted the forum’s goals of educating the region about Arab culture, said Shrit, a medical student at Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine who graduated from Miami Valley School in 2004.

“The best way to share anything is over a good meal,” she said.

She staffed the registration table with her mother, Randa Kanan-Shrit, president of the local Arab-American forum.

Casey Weinstein of Enon, among the diners at tables in the school’s gymnasium, said he welcomed the cultural exchange, as a board member of Temple Israel in Dayton. But he admitted to being less comfortable with Middle Eastern food.

“I’m not the biggest fan of falafels, but I’m willing to try them,” Weinstein said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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