Islamic Social Services celebrates the Bear Clan Patrol

After close to two years back on the streets of Winnipeg, the Bear Clan Patrol is receiving an award of excellence from Islamic Social Services.

The Ihsan Award is given to a community group or person who has done outstanding community work, Islamic Social Services President Shahina Siddiqui said.

"Ihsan in Arabic means excellence, perfection and carrying out exceptional work to benefit society," Siddiqui said.

The Bear Clan Patrol was first put together in Winnipeg's North End in the 1990s, but was revived in 2015 by James Favel after the discovery of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine's body in the Red River the previous summer.

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The group has grown to 550 members and patrols the streets of the North End five nights a week.

Favel said while at Bear Clan's start, it only did North End patrols, it has expanded outside the city and is becoming a force for bridging gaps between communities.

"We are absolutely seeing a difference and now what we want to see, I think, is there still is a division between the newcomer community and our community, and we want to break down those barriers," Favel said. 

He met with representatives of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, IRCOM, and members of the Filipino community to find ways of getting people together.

"We're going to have a community barbecue and we're going to have cultural displays and share food. Having a meal with your neighbour is always a good way to make new relations," Favel said.

"To us, it is an honour to recognize such an outstanding grassroots organization, you know, making life secure for everyone," Siddiqui said.

"We've admired them for such a long time."

The award will be presented to members of Bear Clan at a ceremony Friday night, bringing Winnipeg's Muslim and First Nations communities together.

"It's extremely important in today's day, when there are so many barriers and walls being built between communities, we felt two of our communities share so much in common, two marginalized communities, two stereotyped communities, but at the same time, so much compassion and spirit and we share so much of our spirituality as well," Siddiqui said.

Other leaders in the Indigenous community will also be recognized at the ceremony Friday.

The Ansar award is given to an individual for his or her contribution to the community, but the recipients don't know until their names are announced.

Ansar is Arabic for helper.

Islamic Social Services has been giving out the awards for five years.