Doha: Over 250 young members of the community are taking part in Hasanat Olympics 2015, a Ramadan volunteer work joint initiative of The Youth Company (TYC) and Doha Festival City (DFC).
The community engagement initiative has been running for three weeks of Ramadan.
DFC and TYC have praised the time and effort volunteers have put in so far to deliver the daily programme which aims to empower them and experience ways to serve the community.
Building on the success and momentum achieved by the programme last year, volunteers embarked on their journey to help alleviate some of the difficulties facing their community while enhancing their social skills and promoting cultural understanding.
“We are thrilled that we’ve joined hands with TYC for this year’s edition of Hasanat Olympics, which connects volunteers with community stakeholders to promote solidarity and positive values in our society,” said Kareem Shamma, CEO, DFC.
“Ramadan is the perfect time to reflect on our shared values and work with the community to create positive impact. We take pride in providing our young people with the opportunity to embrace civic engagement, and spread joy in the hearts of the less fortunate during the holy month,” he added.
“There are so many people in our community we always forget about,” said Mohamed Farid, Founder and Chairman, TYC.
“Hasanat is to remember people forgotten and make them happy even if it is for an hour. We are glad that we can engage with youth from all over Qatar in doing good for other people.”
The volunteers, aged between 16 and 24, were involved in activities, including packing and distributing Iftar boxes on the busiest streets of Doha, taking part in charity drives to collect clothes and other donations.
They visited hospitals, elderly homes and orphanages, and conducted creative art activities for children with special needs.
During the first three weeks of Ramadan, five Iftar box packaging events were held at TYC headquarters. Each time, volunteers gathered and enjoyed the hands-on work of packing dates, water, miswak and Ramadan calendars in about 2,500 decorated boxes to be distributed by Ramadan-end.
Their mission did not stop there. A group of volunteers visited Emergency Rooms and the women’s section of Hamad Medical Hospital and gave out 50 meals to help people break fast while awaiting their loved ones. Others handed Iftar boxes to people stuck in traffic or rushing home at major traffic intersections to promote safe and responsible driving and reduce the number of traffic accidents during Iftar time.
