Morton Grove honors family that wrote note offering help during bitter cold
By Daniel I. Dorfman, Feb 19, 2019
A Morton Grove family who offered assistance and hospitality to their neighbors during the depths of the late January polar vortex received recognition for their efforts at the Feb. 11 village board meeting.
“We had an amazing, amazing example of what Morton Grove is all about,” Mayor Dan DiMaria said at the meeting. “It shows us there is good news in this world.”
As the temperatures plunged well below zero at the end of last month, Sabeel Ahmed and his wife, Asma Naheed, sent out approximately 40 letters to their neighbors offering to pick up groceries or medicine, or shovel snow. The family also invited neighbors to come over for samosa or hot tea.
After the meeting, Ahmed said the family assisted three separate people who contacted them after seeing initial news reports of the offer.
The family brought groceries to a woman in Park Ridge, he said. In Morton Grove, Ahmed said the family helped a retired teacher by shoveling snow and also a third person in the town.
“We would do it again,” he said. “Being a neighbor, there is no expiration date on that. Anytime anyone, for any reason, needs help, please give us a call.”
For their efforts, the family, which includes three children, received a thermometer, a coffee cup, a pen and a button emblazoned with the Morton Grove logo from village officials, who lauded their generosity.
“This gesture exemplifies what makes Morton Grove, Morton Grove,” Di Maria said. “Your family’s actions demonstrate what Morton Grove is all about.”
Ahmed told the trustees of his objective, hoping others follow their lead.
“Our inspiration was that more people should do something like this so it can have a ripple effect,” he said.
In praising the family, Morton Grove Trustee John Thill recalled a speech he made to Morton Grove’s Muslim Education Center.
“I don’t want to hear about your community, and I don’t want to hear about my community,” Thill remembered of what he said. “I want to hear about our community, and you exemplify that.”
Article Courtesy: Chicago Tribune
