The Women’s Social Affairs Department in the Eastern Province has identified around 8,900 families who are in need of help, both financially and in kind, during Ramadan.
The head of the Social Societies Section, Hanan Al-Jamiah, said: “We identify poor families who are in need of help not only during Ramadan, but also throughout the year. There is a slight increase in the number of families identified this year following a survey conducted in collaboration with the Social Societies Section.”
The section’s objective is not only to identify such families and their needs but also to conduct periodic follow-ups. Families in need must register themselves by filing details, following which officials visit the family for assessment and also check out if any person in the family was fit for employment, Al-Jamiah said.
She said: “We have not received any complaints in this regard. The assistance extended by the Women’s Charitable Societies include food baskets. This is in addition to coupons for essential commodities, which poor families can obtain after arriving at an agreement with shops meant for this purpose.”
The Al-Fatat Gulf Society in Alkhobar also provides aid to poor families and also to the Women’s Society in the Industrial area of Jubail. A small supermarket has been set up in the Society’s premises from where poor families can get their provisions.
Families which are eligible to receive assistance from charities, however, have complained about the chaos in distribution and the charities’ refusal to extend aid to them.
These charities have put a list of conditions for approval of financial and other kinds of aids for families, but in Ramadan, even the unregistered families are given aid, according to directors and supervisors of the distribution system.
One of the families sponsored by a charity said the chaos in distribution was caused by supervisors and their refusal to extend assistance until the charity’s administration gives the green light to operate. “We applied to the charity two months ago and waited for them to evaluate the situation in our home and identify our social position, but we didn’t get any response and we were not told whether we are eligible for aid,” one family member said.
Al-Bir Charity in Al-Ahsa has begun distributing more than 100 food baskets for registered families during Ramadan. “The charity has received more than 1,000 food baskets from Princess Al-Anood bint Abdulaziz bin Musahed bin Jlawi Al-Saud. The charity began distributing these baskets to beneficiaries before the beginning of Ramadan,” said Moath Al-Jafari, charity director.
8,900 needy families identified in EP
