Salaam Club holds first meeting of 2024

February 2, 2024 Wayne Daren Schneiderman

The Salaam Club was founded in 1945 by Lebanese and Syrian immigrants and diplomats to the United Nations in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was formed as a social and cultural fraternity of businessmen and professionals celebrating and honoring a proud heritage inherited from their forefathers.
Photos: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle

Share this:

The Salaam Club of New York, one of Brooklyn’s oldest Middle Eastern civic groups, held its first meeting of the new year at the newly-built Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults, located at 15 Bay Ridge Ave., on Wednesday, Jan. 24 — and the Brooklyn Eagle had a ringside seat at the gathering.

A group of nearly 50 men feasted on Lebanese cuisine — courtesy of Le Sajj restaurant on 82nd Street and Fifth Avenue — and sipped on 12-year-old scotch as President Joseph Elkallassy reflected on the group’s mission.

“Giving back, being civic-minded, and helping out whenever we can, that is the primary objective of the Salaam Club,” Elkallassy told his members.

Salaam Club President Joseph Elkallassy addressing the crowd.Photos: Wayne Daren Schneiderman/Brooklyn Eagle — Salaam Club President Joseph Elkallassy addressing the crowd.

Elkallassy spoke of the $40,000 donated by the club at the group’s 77th annual holiday gala held at the Legacy Castle in Pompton Plains, N.J. on December 9.

“This is what we are all about — being charitable to people who need it the most,” Elkallassy said.

He also pointed out that the night’s turnout was especially impressive, with nearly 50 people in attendance.

“In the past, we’ve had maybe 15 people,” Elkallassy noted, “but today, by God’s grace, we had a turnout more than three times that amount.”

The meeting was professional and well-orchestrated, although the vibe was informal, and Salaam Club members made this guest feel incredibly welcome.

The Salaam Club Foundation was established in 2008. Its focus is to raise money to give back to communities in America and to those in need in the lands of its heritage.

Since its inception, the Salaam Club Foundation has raised and distributed approximately $1,500,000 to various charitable organizations, such as the Guild for Exceptional Children, the Bay Ridge Center, the St. Nicholas Home, Fort Hamilton Garrison, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and many others.

In addition, in 2008, the Salaam Club Foundation established a scholarship fund for college students.

The next Salaam Club meeting is slated to take place on Feb. 28.