Looking for ways to celebrate the spirit of giving during Ramadan? It could be easier than you think…
Ramadan is now upon us, and that means it’s time to start thinking about how you can give back during the Holy Month.
There are many different ways to do so, whether it be volunteering your time to a great cause, or donating food or clothing. But it can also be as easy as downloading an app to your smartphone.
Here, we’ve rounded up some of the best ways to pay it forward this Ramadan…
Read:
7 Tips To Keep You Healthy While Fasting During Ramadan
Sheikh Mohammed Calls For Increased Generosity To Those In Need Over Ramadan
Say it with flowers
If you’re thinking about purchasing some blooms as an Eid gift – or even just brightening up your own house – this limited-edition flower box from Maison Des Fleurs is both charming and charitable.
The company has teamed up with French calligraphy artist eL Seed on the Arabic designs, and the Dhs749 boxes will be available from the start of Ramadan until August.
The best bit? Fifty per cent of the boxes’ revenue will go towards the Al Jalila Foundation, a Dubai-based initiative that helps treat children with life-threatening illnesses.
Stock up a sharing fridge
The Ramadan fridge initiative is back for its second year, allowing anyone to help stock fridges around the city with water and snacks for blue-collar workers’ Iftar.
The concept is the brainchild of Australian mum-of-two Sumayyah Sayed, who launched the initiative last year, and a list of all the fridges across Dubai can be found here.
More than 70 are already open, and just one fridge feeds around 100 people a day. For suggestions of what to donate, click here.
Take a ride to support refugees
Local ride-hailing app Careem has just announced an initiative which lets you support refugee families in the MENA region, simply by booking a ride.
The Dubai-based company launched the new feature in partnership with UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. When selecting your car, you can now choose a special UNHCR option, which automatically adds a Dhs3 donation to your fare.
Read more:
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All of the money donated will go towards the UNHCR fund – and Careem says during the month of Ramadan, it will match every donation, so your gesture will go even further.
“Personally, I feel like this is an opportunity for me to do some good in our hectic lives,” said Bassel Al Nahlaoui, Careem’s vice president of business development and government relations.
“This is your opportunity to turn your everyday, normal ride into an act of kindness.”
Help feed a child
There’s also an app that will allow you to help prevent famine in Yemen and support needy children in Lebanon with one tap of your phone.
ShareTheMeal, the official app of the United Nations World Food Programme, lets you choose where you want to send your donation (the first two countries to be included are Yemen and Lebanon).
The minimum donation is US$0.50, which is enough to feed a child for one day. So far, the app has been downloaded by more than 830,000 people, who have shared more than 13 million meals with vulnerable children in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Malawi and Cameroon.
So when you’re heading to iftar, be sure to order a Careem there… and don’t forget to “share the meal” afterwards.
Words: Siobhan Downes and Emma Day
