“Every Ramadan for over 30 years I’ve been preparing boxes containing oil, rice, sugar, milk, dates, wheat and other goods for distribution,” said Fatima Al-Ghalib. “As time went by, my friends and family began sending me money to buy more goods and distribute on their behalf,” she added.
The Young Initiative Group is a team of around 30 volunteers who have come together to dedicate some of their time to charity projects and have recently created a Facebook group to get more people on board.
“The group includes family, friends and random people who heard about us from Facebook. Each person with us is given a different task. Some buy goods, some are responsible for packing, some gather donations and others distribute baskets,” said head of the group Maha Taher.
“We target people who cannot afford to buy food for themselves and people who work during Iftar like taxi drivers and street cleaners. We plan to distribute around 300 boxes everyday. Each box contains dates, water, orange juice, bread and yogurt drinks which are purchased everyday to ensure they are fresh when they are handed out,” she added.
Companies are also distributing special food baskets among the poor. Azizia Panda United Inc. is one company that has been distributing aid among the poor during Ramadan for the past 10 years now.
“Every year Azizia Panda United Inc. loads a number of caravans with food baskets and deliver them to poor families. But this year, we’ve organized something different for them. We’ve made special coupons that customers can use to buy goods at our Panda supermarkets,” said Badr Jazzar from Panda’s commercial department. “It’s easier this way for people to choose the kind of goods they need rather than us deciding for them,” he added.
Charities also expect large donations at Ramadan. Some rely on the donations they receive during Ramadan for their yearlong projects. “Our charity receives huge amounts of money and goods during Ramadan, more than what we receive during the rest of the year,” said a spokesman for a charity in Jeddah.
“It’s like people only remember to volunteer or give alms during Ramadan. So we’re forced to keep some money on the side for our projects during the year,” she added.
Other welfare organizations arrange special Ramadan events to attract people and encourage them to donate. “Every Ramadan we hold iftar on specific days of the month. Whoever is interested can attend and bring food along with them and share their iftar with the public,” said the head of an orphanage in Jeddah. “We also hold events at night when people can come and play with children and exchange gifts,” she added.
