Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah inaugurated the campaign with a donation of SR20 million while Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, contributed SR10 million and Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif contributed SR5 million to the fund.

The provinces set up subsidiary committees to collect donations and encourage businessmen and other citizens to participate actively in the campaign. Prospective donors have been requested to  deposit their money in account No. SA8710000020162400000107 at National Commercial Bank or transfer their money using NCB's telebanking service or ATMs or Al-Ahli online service.

"People and the government of Pakistan are grateful to the magnanimous gesture shown by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Prince Sultan and Prince Naif to help the distressed people of Pakistan who are suffering from the natural calamity," Pakistan Ambassador  Umar Khan Alisherzai told Arab News.

Due to the spontaneous initiative made by the king, there was an unprecedented response from the members of the Saudi community.

"Saudi Arabia has built an air-bridge between the two countries to facilitate relief supplies," said the envoy. The envoy added that the fund-raising goal is to collect at least SR150 million in the course of this week. "By virtue of the friendship maintained on religious and cultural footings, Saudi Arabia always come to our assistance in times of distress."

He noted that the generosity demonstrated by the members of the royal family will be remembered by the people of Pakistan for ever.

He said that the Saudi Fund For Development had already sent a team of its officials to the flood-stricken areas to evaluate the damages and explore the possibility of rehabilitating the victims in Pakistan.

Explaining the extent of damages, the envoy said:  "We have lost 2,000 people and 5,000 more  have been injured due to the floods,"

Over one million houses were destroyed.

"Initial estimates revealed that the country needs $1 billion for rescue and rehabilitation operations, but now we feel that it would require manifold to solve the current problems in the flood  affected areas."

He also said that this community members have organized a fund-raising campaign at the embassy auditorium on Thursday.

"Pakistanis are emotional about their motherland. We expect a substantial amount from our own community members who are too willing to help this cause," he stressed.

Collections from this event will be diverted to the country's disaster-management fund.

Saudi Arabia has sent 16 planeloads of relief supplies to Pakistan since Sunday.

Saudi Finance Ministry officials Abdullah Al-Muhaisen, Abdul Aziz Al-Fayad and Abdullah Al-Dossary handed over the relief supplies to Pakistani authorities. The Saudi Embassy in Islamabad is supervising the distribution of Saudi aid among the victims. The Kingdom has pledged $100 million relief for Pakistan.

The United Nations has appealed for an initial $460 million to provide relief, but only 20 percent has been given. Once the floods recede, billions more will be needed for reconstruction and getting people back to work.