ALBAIK’s community awareness program — Please park it right — has won two Stevie International Business Awards for 2014 in the categories Communications Program of the Year and Community Relations and Communications Program of the Year in Public Service.

The awards presentation ceremony will be held in Paris in October when the Stevies will be distributed to all winning entries on a global level.

Please Park it Right is a community initiative that aims to foster responsibility and encourage proper parking habits in order to ease traffic congestion for the benefit of the community as a whole.

A collaboration that brings together the public and private sectors, Please Park it Right is described as a first of its kind program in partnership with the Jeddah Traffic Police, the Universal Accessibility Program of the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research, and ALBAIK.

Launched in May 2013, Please Park it Right was developed with the help of a group of young men who went beyond their physical disability to create awareness on the importance of respecting traffic regulations and parking, especially for disabled parking spots.

Today, the Please Park it Right campaign has been turned into business venture Mawagif headed by Safar Haqabani, a young man who did not allow his physical disability to stop him from achieving his dreams of being an athlete.

Haqabani is a member of the Saudi National Basketball Team for the Disabled and is an avid supporter and activist for the rights of the disabled.

“The first ALBAIK restaurant we asked Mawagif team to handle was our Arabaeen Street restaurant where we witnessed heavy traffic congestion and issues in the parking within the entire area,” stated Rami Abu-Ghazaleh, CEO at ALBAIK Food System Co. Ltd.