DHAHRAN: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) on Saturday launched the largest volunteering activity in the Eastern Province, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Volunteer Day Festival serves the university’s mission to help the community through programs, with the participation of the KFUPM students and employees.
It focuses on areas such as health, the environment, retirement homes, rehabilitation centers and traffic safety.
The president of KFUPM, Muhammad Al-Saggaf, highlighted the importance of volunteering as a religious and social duty. He said volunteering also helped students on a personal level, as international companies and universities took the activity into consideration when making their selection.
Volunteering should not be restricted to the festival, he added, rather it should be an ongoing process throughout the year. Al-Saggaf said volunteering was an important way of strengthening the bonds between the university and the community.
One of the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan’s objectives is to rally a million volunteers a year.
The dean of student affairs, Ahmed Al-Ojairi, said: “What we are witnessing is a form of beauty that the university offers to society, represented by more than 11,000 hours of volunteer work in an attempt to make a difference and leave a positive impact on society. Volunteering has several forms, such as bringing joy to Muslims living in social welfare homes, decorating the city with murals to reduce visual pollution, planting trees on highways and beaches to reduce desertification or by providing courses for high school students, and other activities.”
The festival’s activities included 11 volunteering programs during which 31 projects were implemented.
The programs included initiatives that focused on planting, painting and mosque maintenance. There was also a “Thank You” initiative for workers, in addition to visits to retirement homes and rehabilitation centers.
