JEDDAH: Hundreds of underprivileged Saudi children received a special surprise toy to mark the festival of Eid.
Campaigners in Jeddah organized the distribution of more than 3,000 gifts to needy youngsters to celebrate breaking the fast.
The “Eid Gift Donation” initiative, run by the city’s Naqaa Sustainability Solutions in collaboration with Iftar Sayum group, was aimed at putting a smile on the faces of disadvantaged children.
Mouna Othman, co-founder of Naqaa Sustainability Solutions, told Arab News that the idea behind the project was to give something back to the community. “As the main clients for our services are other businesses, I thought our employees needed to remember what our values were. To work in the sustainability field, we need to tackle the economic, environmental and social aspects.”
She said the main purpose of the campaign was to bring joy to underprivileged kids in pre-selected neighborhoods in south Jeddah.
With the help of local families during the month of Ramadan, Naqaa Sustainability Solutions received thousands of new and used toys. Eve’s Avenue Salon and Spa, the Humming Tree community center, and The Spot coworking space assisted in collecting the items.
After being donated at drop-off locations, the toys were sorted and packaged by young volunteers and employees from Naqaa and The Spot before being delivered to beneficiaries on the night Eid was announced.
“The toys were of all types, for boys and girls, aged up to 10 years old, and included items such as stuffed animals, puzzles, musical toys, buckets and blocks, dolls and dollhouses, cars, planes, bags, and coloring books,” Othman said.
The donations went to kids in Jama’a district that were identified by the Iftar Sayum group, led by Mohamed Toaimi, as well as Al-Quriyat district in collaboration with the Friends of Jeddah Parks organization.
“Eid is joy, and as a kid, toys and candies bring joy. I’ve been voluntary working and supporting Toaimi’s group of Iftar Sayum, and we noticed that there were some underprivileged kids that did not have toys to play with,” Othman added.
“What could have been better timing than Ramadan? Some of these kids have never had toys of their own in their lives and it is incredibly heartwarming to know that we added some more excitement for Eid.”
The recycling of toys for the campaign represented what Naqaa Sustainability Solutions stood for, she said.
