JEDDAH: Ehtiwa, a Saudi volunteer foundation, broke the Guinness World Record for the number of clothes collected during the recently concluded Ramadan, it has been revealed. 

The campaign, called “Keswat Farah,” was launched in Riyadh and the Eastern Province for the eighth year in a row, and broke the record on May 28.  A group of nearly 2,000 volunteers collected over 500,000 pieces of clothes donated by members of the public.

The clothes were then classified, cleaned, prepared and packaged, before being sent to the “Keswat Farah” showroom for visitors to collect in a private, dignified space.

“Families are not given pre-selected items, they can go ‘shopping’ and choose what they like,” Ashwag Al-Nashwan, head of media and marketing for Ehtiwa, told Arab News.

Speaking of the campaign’s role and concept, Al-Nashwan added: “One of our missions is to ensure that families in need are treated with dignity and respect. Seeing smiles on families’ faces is the greatest reward our organization and strong community of volunteers can ever receive.”

Ehtiwa seeks to promote the spirit of volunteering and the values of giving, compassion, cooperation and empathy in Saudi society, as part of Saudi Vision 2030. The campaign had set a goal of collecting over 500,000 items for 2,700 families in need, and in meeting its target, succeeded in breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of clothes collected for donation.

The 2,000 volunteers who participated were mostly women, with over 200,000 working hours spent on the campaign.