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Collection boxes for The Palm Association’s Ramadan Food Drive have been placed in two popular supermarkets – Alosra and Al Jazira.
A stand has been put up close to the counters at Alosra’s Budaiya and Amwaj branches for shoppers to purchase useful items. These donations can then be placed in special collection cages outside.
Al Jazira’s Zinj store has BD10 worth of pre-packaged items such as rice, cooking oil, sugar, tea, powdered milk, Ramadan sweets and dal ready to be bought, donated and placed in boxes outside.
Meanwhile, members of staff at Charles Russell law firm, global distributor DHL and shipping agency GAC Bahrain, have conducted an internal food collection drive and also purchased items from a pre-selected list.
Schools involved in spreading the word about the Ramadan Food Drive include The British School of Bahrain and Nadeen School. They have sent out leaflets to parents asking for donations from a pre-selected list.
“Our target is schools, companies and the regular shopper,” said Maria Sorger, the association’s corporate communications officer. “It is a time of year when large families gather to break their fast and in order not to burden poor families we aim to give them additional food items we know they will need.”
The group has been running its Ramadan Food Drive for the past couple of years and support for the initiative has grown.
This year GulfWeekly aims to raise its profile further. As with past campaigns, GulfWeekly aims to spread the message of giving and that’s where its readers can step in. Editor Stan Szecowka said: “We always receive a tremendous response from readers to our community campaigns and I’m positive we can make a real difference once again.”
The drive is part of a long-running Feed-a-Family project, which is the cornerstone of the Palm Association’s endeavours run by two of its committee, Sue Gale and Tina Hunt.
They manage and review the status of families in need through the association’s local contacts and then coordinate with supporters, Red Leaf Trading Establishment-Teas Importers and Merchants.
Red Leaf Trading source and purchase the groceries at wholesale prices in the local market, then they sort and package the products to be delivered to needy families during the first week of every month at no additional cost.
Maria said: “Sponsorship of the Feed-A-Family initiative permits us to provide and distribute approximately 155 food parcels to the value of BD20 every month to Bahraini families in need.
“Each family, identified by our trusted community contacts to be facing difficult financial situations, survive on the bare minimum due to unforeseen or unfortunate circumstances such as the death of a spouse, loss of employment, divorce, accident, disability or illness.”
The annual cost of supporting one family is BD240. To date, members have distributed more than 8,000 boxes to needy families. A ‘goody’ box is also provided to the paediatric units at Salmaniya Hospital on a monthly basis.
The Palm Association originally started in 2000 when two resident expatriate women decided to give back to the local community and the country they now called home.
Their charitable outreach began from the comfort of their kitchens, where they would purchase food items, package them and distribute them to needy families. What started on a small scale has since grown into a sustainable, not-for-profit, pro-active and accountable organisation, run by a large number of volunteering women.
The committee involved in running day-to-day operations include 19 women of different nationalities including British, Irish, Lebanese, Bahraini, Australian, American, Canadian and Maltese.
Together, the volunteers work on a variety of initiatives such as housing revamp projects, education and other drives including collecting blankets and winter clothing for the colder months. They also help with the upkeep of an activity room used by children undergoing treatment at the Haematology Day Care Unit at Salmaniya Hospital.
For details, email secretary@thepalmassociation.com or vicechairman@thepalmassociation.com
