of the 52nd street project which mentors kids in new york in the theater arts. the emmy and golden globe nominated actress and the emmy award winning and tony nominated actor starring together in the play, madea. [ cheers and applause ] 23 years ago a nurse made a house call to care for a dying baby of an iraqi refugee family. at their home, najah bazdy noticed four things in their house. a rug, a styrofoam cooler, a camp grill, and a white basket filled with clean towels and the baby. at first najah thought the family was just moving in. she realized this was all they had.
najah called her mother and gathered as many items as they could and brought them to the family. while the baby s life was brief its legacy lives on. for years she helped more families operating out of her home and a minivan. in 2004, she started najah international and have 40,000 square foot building with rows of food, clothing and furniture. they helped more than 250,000 women and children in crisis. zaman a hebrew word that means time and because she spent that time with that one family and baby, she has never stopped loving her neighbors in need. in my faith tradition there s a beautiful thing, saying pray for your neighbor before yourself. we have a human responsibility to care for one another. my family has been in america