Karina Hayat's Community Service
A Legacy of Compassion and Action
Karina Hayat embodies resilience, innovation, and an unwavering dedication to both the business world and community service, achieving what most would not in a lifetime. Her dedication to service and advocacy is not just extensive; it’s marked by a trail of accolades that affirm the depth of her contributions across various initiatives.
Her efforts span from launching Canada’s first Muslim Food Bank to the impactful “100 Meals a Week Initiative,” touching countless lives through sustenance, support, and empowerment. Beyond nourishing bodies, Karina’s work in reuniting families, empowering women and youth, and addressing critical issues like homelessness, poverty, and Islamophobia showcases her holistic approach to community upliftment. Her significant contributions extend into mental health and substance abuse treatment, notably through her involvement in St. Paul’s Hospital’s Future Leaders initiative and the Pixel Moments Project.
Alongside her husband Zeeshan, Karina has crafted a legacy of positive change, inspiring others to lead with heart and commitment. Despite her youth, her accomplishments reflect a profound capacity to drive societal progress, underscoring the belief that individual actions can indeed inspire a collective movement towards a better world. Her journey continues to inspire and motivate others to lead with heart, vision, and an unwavering commitment to bettering the world around us.
1980’s : Karina’s philanthropic journey began in the unpaved roads of small villages in Guatemala. She helped her father teach illiterate adults how to read and write, sharing her meals with other children who did not have enough to eat at school and canvassing her entire “colonia” at only age 10 to determine the need for adult literacy programs that her school could extend to the community.
1990’s: Karina contributed to the local Catholic Community she fundraised for the church’s raffle to raise funds for their annual Christmas donations. Supported Kee’s Taekwondo school fundraisers, seeding their path of communal contribution.
2000’s Lahore: Utilized her wedding gift money for meal distribution in Lahore, Pakistan, marking their first foray into international aid.
Innovative Service
Contributed within the founding team for the creation Canada’s first Muslim Food Bank tech and social media infrastructure. The organization revolutionize food aid and community support for the Muslim community and now feeds over 10,000 people annually across Canada.
100 Meals a Week Initiative: significantly expanding their outreach and setting a steadfast commitment to feeding those in need. Feeding people out of their trunk since 2006 she and her husband along side family and friends have delivered over 400,000 meals, clothing and blankets to those in need.
Family Reunification: Advocated for a distressed family, whose children had been removed from their care and were being abused by the foster family. Karina led the social media efforts to bring light into the case that led over 1,000 people to contact government officials, media and sow up at court hearing eventually aiding the reunification efforts of the family and showcasing her dedication to social justice and community cohesion.
2010’s to present: Iftar Program: Supported the BC Muslim Association’s Iftar program, providing sustenance to countless families.
Islam Unravelled: Engaged in diverse efforts to interfaith dialogue, addressing critical community issues especially related to Islam’s inclusion of women and misconceptions that exist regarding Muslim women.
Vancouver Interfaith Alliance: Engaged with regional leaders to tackle homelessness and improve affordable housing. Conferences: Karina enriched numerous conferences as a speaker and writer, sharing her insights on entrepreneurship, marketing, and women’s empowerment across platforms like Young Women in Business and Lean In Canada.
Mentorship and co-op programs
She opened at least 5 spots per year at their company, fostering the development of tech students into successful professionals and entrepreneurs.
Junior Achievement program: Facilitated an 8 week training program for high school entrepreneurship, from ideation to investment pitching, through the “Be Entrepreneurial” program.
Syrian Family Sponsorship: Karina committed to sponsor a Syrian family after widespread displacement of Syrians after the war. Despite allocation challenges, they significantly aided newly arrived Syrian families with essential support and integration efforts.
Vancouver Outreach: provided hands-on assistance and financial support to address local homelessness and insecurity issues. BCMA Vancouver chapter Chairwoman: implemented inclusive programs and workshops to bridge intergenerational gaps and enhance community safety and unity.
BCMA Vancouver chapter Chairwoman: implemented inclusive programs and workshops to bridge intergenerational gaps and enhance community safety and unity.
Voices of Muslim Women: Provided assistance to the annual awards program, office space to the executive team and participated as a workshop facilitator and speaker at its conferences boosting leadership and development opportunities for women and girls within the community.
St. Paul’s Hospital’s initiatives: particularly the Pixel Moments Project, raising significant funds for mental health and substance abuse research.
Portamento of Hope: Provided hands on help and donations to the soup kitchen that feeds over 50 homeless people daily.
Launched School Scholarship
Launched an annual scholarship for underprivileged students in developing countries who are looking to attain a Canadian OSSD diploma. This is a 5 year scholarship that provides the student wit opportunities to apply to public Canadia Universities and attain a full post secondary scholarship.
Karina is currently working on her first two books which are due to be published in 2025. She has expressed aspirations for their family to embark on annual mission trips to provide essential services to impoverished children, to establish an orphanage in Pakistan and a homeless shelter in Vancouver as their legacy and expand the scholarship program to hundreds of students.