RIYADH, 20 June 2007 — Saleh Kamel, chairman of the Dallah Albaraka, donated SR1 million yesterday to the Prince Abdul Majeed Endowment Complex in Makkah that will be maintained in aid of the Disabled Children’s Association (DCA) headed by Prince Sultan ibn Salman.
Announcing the donation, Prince Sultan said that he appreciates the donation given by one of the top business magnates in the Kingdom.
“The donation portrays Sheikh Kamel’s generosity and his respect toward late Makkah Gov. Prince Abdul Majeed who had rendered yeoman services to support the Kingdom’s disabled children for several years. He recalled that the late prince had been eager to form a group of philanthropists, who would work for the cause of disabled children, but he died before he could fulfill this mission,” he said.
Describing the contribution as a new page in the annals of the association, Prince Sultan hoped that this would pave the way for more donations from philanthropists from the Kingdom toward this worthy cause.
The prince added that the association had made arrangements to purchase two buildings, which will be named after the late prince, at a cost of SR30 million, for endowment purposes.
“With this donation, we have SR14 million in hand and we now need to collect another SR16 million from other philanthropists to finalize the purchase of the endowment complex,” the prince said in a statement to Arab News yesterday. The SR14 million included SR10 million from the association and another S3 million donation from Prince Faisal ibn Abdul Majeed.
Prince Sultan, who is also the chairman of the board of trustees of the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, said that such an endowment in Makkah would ensure a regular income for the DCA.
“We will be able to help thousands of disabled children with the funds coming from this endowment and we would be able to rehabilitate hundreds of disabled children and help them join mainstream society,” he said, adding that the DCA aims to create awareness in society on the causes of disability and means of prevention.
