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THE Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Bahrain is investing $500,000 (BD188,000) into a community project to help entrepreneurial people with special needs set up their own businesses selling soft drinks.
In a unique initiative, the company is teaming up with the Ministry of Social Development and The Family Bank to provide 100 air-conditioned kiosks, individually customised with ramps for those using wheelchairs. They will come fully-equipped with coolers to keep the products chilled.
The agreement aims to support people with special needs to allow them to unleash their abilities for establishing and managing small businesses through their participation in the Dannatt project.
Participants will be able to apply for launch funding, in the form of micro-financing, from the bank and the kiosks will be installed in public gardens, facilities and other popular locations across the kingdom.
The Coca-Cola Bottling Company's charitable initiative, which bears the cost of manufacturing and furnishing the kiosks, will provide opportunities of self-employment, training and supervising the establishment of small businesses for people with special needs manning the kiosks.
Furthermore, the company will assign a training manager to provide the personnel with selling skills required to accomplish the job and prosper.
'This agreement comes as a result of the activities of the ministry to empower people with special needs and to provide a suitable environment to integrate them into society and provide employment opportunities and self-employment for them,' Dr Fatima Al Balushi, Minister of Social Development, said.
Dr Al Balushi thanked both The Coca-Cola Bottling Company for its contribution and The Family Bank, which collaborated to launch this initiative to facilitate the involvement of individuals with disabilities in small businesses that improve their income and raise their living standards.
The ministry will support this initiative by providing exclusive licences to install the kiosks at various locations, as well as providing additional training for the people managing the kiosks.
Sanjeev Khanna, general manager of the Bahrain Bottling operation, said: 'The Coca-Cola Bottling Company is dedicated to providing the necessary support for people with special needs in our community, and we hope that this new partnership will positively impact society and people who are in most need of our support.'
The company has designed the kiosks which will sell a variety of its drinks alongside other products. The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with nearly 500 sparkling and still brands.
Dr Atef Al Shabrawi, CEO of Family Bank, said the launch of the initiative comes after many meetings and contacts with various bodies and organisations, including the disability sector of the Ministry of Social Development and a number of NGOs that serve and help develop people with special needs.
