Gunnar Swanson, a young Iraq war veteran and program director of War Kids Relief, is marching 1,000 miles from Dallas to Minnesota to raise funds for programs that help kids traumatically affected by war. Below he shares a story about meeting Nash, an Ismali Muslim.
I had another story to tell from the road down to Dallas that I really wanted to share. Just south of Oklahoma City, we stopped at a gas station called “Picnic Stop” to fill up and take a break and have some lunch. While inside, I noticed the owner
With my new friend Nash at Picnic Stop!
had a picture of the Aga Khan behind his counter, just as Sarosha Hanraj (our junior spokesperson) has hanging in her home. I had talked to Saraosha and her family, and learned a lot about their Ismaili Muslim religion, and asked the owner if he was also Ismaili. He was, so I continued to talked to him about Sarosha and explained about my fundraising march from Dallas to Minnesota and all the help we were going to do for the children of Iraq and Afghanistan. The man, who goes by the name Nash, told me how excited he was for what we were doing and offered us free drinks, water, and a big water melon for our lunch! He didn’t stop there, he also gave us a discount membership to RV places throughout my march! We were so touched by his generosity, we plan on seeing him again on my walk up north!
Independent, civil society media featuring Ismaili Muslim community, inter and intra faith endeavors, achievements and humanitarian works.
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