POCATELLO — A colossal Christmas feast that will be offered free to the public is planned at an unlikely venue.

The Islamic Society of Southeast Idaho’s mosque at 1513 S. Fifth Ave. will host a spread for a crowd of about 200. Food will be served from 5 to 8 p.m.

The Rahim family, whose JRM Foundation is organizing the meal, explained their aim is to celebrate cultural unity.

“In Islam, we don’t celebrate Christmas, and I realized the mosque is open,” said Mustafa Rahim, who suggested the idea. “It’s a good way to show interfaith relations, as well as a good way to give back to everyone.”

The food served at the nonprofit foundation’s Community Open Table and Christmas Dinner will reflect the event’s spirit of diversity. The family hopes it will become an annual tradition.

The Rahims plan to personally prepare Pakistani food to serve. Himalayan Flavor, 303 E. Alameda Road, will supply Indian and Nepali food; Puerto Vallarta, 160 W. Cedar St., will serve Mexican food; Yellowstone Restaurant, 230 W. Bonneville St., is providing dessert; and the Pocatello Police Department is contributing a grill for cooking hot dogs and hamburgers.

Dr. Fahim Rahim, Mustafa Rahim’s uncle, said several of his patients are lonely, struggling financially or have been down on their luck, and the intent of the meal is to provide a good holiday celebration for people in need of one.

However, he said anyone is welcome, and he encouraged people who have the wherewithal to bring their own favorite dishes to lend even more diversity to the menu. He said volunteers to help serve and clean would also be appreciated.

Mustafa Rahim, who is studying pre-medicine at Utah State University, started thinking about the need for such a community service project on Thursday, when he drove by a food pantry and was moved by the long line of people waiting for assistance. The next morning, during prayers, he thought of hosting a meal at the mosque.

“If we have the option to give back as much as we can, why shouldn’t we,” he said.

Fahim Rahim said JRM Foundation, founded in 2010 to help meet the health and educational needs of women and children, is involved in several philanthropic efforts, both locally and internationally. The foundation runs medical clinics in Nepal and Pakistan, as well as schools in Nepal. The foundation also runs a daycare in Bangkok, Thailand, and is partnering with University of Minnesota to develop and teach an educational curriculum to Nepali teachers.

Rahim said the foundation and his family would like to thank their supporters and the Islamic Society of Southeast Idaho for their contributions.

He believes inviting the public to the mosque to celebrate a Christian holiday provides a “great symbol of uniting people of different backgrounds during Christmas.”