JEDDAH: A US-based Saudi motor trader has slipped into top gear to help vulnerable members of his community struggling under the COVID-19 lockdown.

Together with a small team of volunteers, Hamad Al-Mansour has been running vital errands for people in the Pacific Northwest city of Seattle, where the first American case of COVID-19 was recorded.

“I work here in the automotive field, and when the coronavirus outbreak started on March 27, I thought of providing any possible service to the society in which I live as a humanitarian work,” he told Arab News.

With his car agency having to close due to the health crisis, he and three friends opted to do something for the local community instead of just staying at home. Other Saudis living in the area also volunteered to help provide shopping and important services to elderly and vulnerable locals. So, Al-Mansour posted a message on his Facebook page offering the group’s assistance to those in need in Washington state.

“If you guys know anyone who needs groceries or any other kind of service, please give them my phone number (4252215429). Me and my team are working to help our community fight COVID-19,” he said.

Grateful residents soon started sending lists of what they needed and their addresses for delivery and before long news of the group’s initiative had gone viral on the internet.

Al-Mansour said the project was being run without any financial support from state authorities.

“We took this initiative simply because our religion has instructed us to do so, especially in tough situations. It is an individual work meant to serve the people of the community where we live. However, the services we are providing will hopefully reflect the noble nature of the Saudi people,” he added.

Al-Mansour said that the near-745,000 population of Seattle, Washington state’s largest city, was friendly and respectful toward Saudi expats and he had never experienced any discrimination.

He added that people were “decent and humble” and “taking the health precautions seriously and following all the instructions issued by local health officials to help fight COVID-19.”