Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) organized its annual back-to-school program for the academic year 2015-2016, coinciding with the new school year, in association with the Ministry of Social Affairs and in cooperation with the SABIC Employees Charity Fund (BERR).

A ceremony to mark the conclusion of the program was held at the Al-Khozama Hall in Riyadh in the presence of Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Sadhan, deputy minister, the Ministry of Social Affairs; Mohammed A. Al-Morshid, director general, Directorate of Education, Riyadh; Talaat Al-Dhafer, SABIC VP, Saudi Arabia and MEA; and Ali Al-Shamrani, SABIC VP, CEO business support and executive affairs and VP, corporate communications.

The program targeted 60,000 primary and middle school students, providing them with bags filled with basic school supplies. SABIC employees in Riyadh, Jubail, Yanbu, Alkhobar and Jeddah, along with a number of volunteers from the company and outside, participated in the program by helping to fill the school bags. BERR teams, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and some charities, supervised the distribution of bags to the students.

Al-Shamrani said the program was the result of the fruitful cooperation between SABIC and the Ministry of Social Affairs. “The ministry provided all the support required to ensure the success of the program.”

He added, “Once again SABIC has demonstrated that it considers its social responsibility strategy as a long-term investment for the development of society. For SABIC, social responsibility is a way of life we have adopted in all our operations for a better future for the community.”

Al-Sadhan, praised the efforts made by SABIC every year to help needy students at the beginning of each school year. The school bags were delivered to the students before the beginning of the school year through 128 charities around the Kingdom, he added.