JEDDAH, 5 June 2007 — It was a momentous occasion when children of a charitable organization received a huge financial donation from a major Saudi commercial group yesterday.
In a bid to ensure continuous financial support for charity work, Savola Group, which has a track record of collaborating with the Disabled Children’s Association (DCA), turned a new chapter when it handed a check of SR1,342,548 to the DCA.
Savola Group Chairman and Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh presented the check to Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism and chairman of the DCA, at the association’s premises.
“The amount was collected from small change that shoppers donated for the cause as part of a campaign at Savola’s Panda outlets across the Kingdom,” Rami Abdulwahab Rajab, director of marketing at Panda and Hyper Panda, told Arab News on the sidelines of the presentation ceremony.
“Your donation makes a difference. Leave your change for them” was the campaign slogan that ran at 50 Panda outlets and five Hyper Panda stores across the Kingdom for a year from June 2006, Rajab said.
Dr. Sami Baroom, CEO of the Savola Group, and Dr. Mohamed Amin Kashgari, executive president of the group’s retail sector, gave an overview of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) being pursued by the group.
“Today’s event is yet another chapter in the fruitful cooperation between the Savola Group’s Azizia Panda and DCA... This is also in line with the teachings of Islam that call for social responsibility and cooperation on the part of individuals, especially the private sector,” said Kashgari, adding that the main thrust of such support and cooperation is to highlight the role of charitable organizations like DCA and also help children become active and productive in society.
The participation of individuals through such campaigns at shopping centers, supermarkets and hypermarkets surely contributes toward creating social awareness about disabled children, he said.
The Savola Group is one of the leading companies that produce and supply consumer goods including edible oils, sugar and fresh dairy products the Kingdom, the Middle East and North Africa. On the retail front, Savola Group operates Azizia Panda United, which is considered to be the leading grocery food retail chain in the Middle East. The chain operates stores across the Kingdom and claims to be the only one of its kind to be represented in all major cities.
