Every Year, A Neighboring Church And Mosque Join Forces For A Blood Drive In Remembrance Of 9/11

Every Year, A Neighboring Church And Mosque Join Forces For A Blood Drive In Remembrance Of 9/11

When the Memphis Islamic Center secured a parcel of land next door to Heartsong Church in Cordova, Tennessee in 2010, Heartsong’s then-pastor Steve Stone said his “stomach kind of tightened up.”

“I felt that ignorance and that fear,” Stone said in a video produced by Starbucks about eight years ago. “So I prayed.”

On the other hand, Dr. Bashar A. Shala of the Memphis Islamic Center, wanted to build a place for Muslims in America to find community and safety in their faith. He assumed building that space in what is colloquially known as “The Bible Belt” would be a challenge.

“We did not expect to be welcomed,” Shala said in the same video. “We thought we’d have to work hard.”

But Stone’s prayers turned into action, and the church displayed a large banner that read: “Heartsong Church Welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the neighborhood.” 

From there, an interfaith friendship was built.

Over the years, the two faith centers have worked together on countless endeavors, the church even opening its worship spaces to Muslims for prayer when their building was under construction.

“I would have never thought that I would be friends with Muslims, and I love it,” Mark Sharpe, a Heartsong congregation member said in the 2016 video. “It’s kind of like my world got bigger.”

Together, they’ve also co-sponsored coat drives, food drives, and more. And every year, close to the anniversary of September 11, the two houses of worship hold a blood drive.

This year was no exception, with the annual remembrance blood drive taking place on Sunday, September 7. 

“Close to 9/11 every year, we do a blood drive together,” Stone said in the video. “One year it’ll be at Heartsong, the next year it’ll be at MIC, so Muslims and Christians are giving blood together.”

For 2025, Heartsong hosted the blood drive. 

“Because of you, life doesn’t stop,” a social media post marketing the event from MIC shared.

Plus, anyone who donated was also given a snow cone to celebrate and replenish after the fact.

“Good things come to good people,” Sno Me Something, the group distributing treats, shared on Facebook.

More than a cheeky sentiment from a frozen dessert stand, the message of unity and offering echoes for the leaders of the two faith communities.

“There continues to be a great hunger for bridging our differences with the many good values we hold in common as human beings,” Stone told Memphis newspaper Commercial Appeal a few years back.

“Meeting a new neighbor, embracing a stranger, exploring the beauty of cultural diversity, and helping one another,” Shala of MIC added, “Isn’t that what being American is all about?”

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Header images courtesy of Logan Clark/Unsplash and Don Sniegowski (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)