An Eid Bazaar, held by the Pakistan Women’s Association (PWA) and Talent Resources, over the weekend at the Bright Future Pakistani School (BFPS) raised QR35,000 for the victims of the recent floods in Pakistan.
The devastating floods, that lasted for a month, killed over 1,600 people and displaced nearly 20mn in what has been described as the worst natural disaster in modern times.
“The funds were raised through the sales of entry tickets, priced QR5 each. We consider this family-oriented event a great success thanks to the turnout of nearly 7,000 individuals not just from Pakistan but a host of other nationalities in Qatar,” PWA president Rahat Mansoor said.
The festival was kicked off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the chief guest, Pakistani Ambassador to Qatar Mohamed Asghar Afridi, who also toured the various stalls along with organisers.
After the customary Qur’anic recitation and welcome speech by Mansoor, Afridi commended the activities of various Qatari organisations who have been working wholeheartedly towards helping their brethren in Pakistan since the floods hit the country in August.
“I also commend the PWA for organising an event of this nature to raise more funds for people in need of crucial life-saving items,” Afridi said.
Following the event, PWA said the money will be channelled through the Qatar Red Crescent (QRC), which it said has been at the forefront of relief efforts.
“Because winter has already arrived in the northern areas of Pakistan, we are planning to buy thousands of blankets to be sent there,” Mansoor said.
The northern areas of Pakistan are the most frigid in the world outside of the polar regions.
Folk items were performed by students of BFPS, followed by a quiz competition with gifts from Qatar Airways. Saad Javed anchored the contest.
Vodafone Qatar and Fashion Textiles sponsored several items.
A raffle draw was held, where Qatar Airways gave away two return tickets to any destination on its network, while Al Khayarin Group gave away eight assorted prizes, officials said.
“There were more than 80 stalls with three distinct zones; kids, food, and shopping,” Mansoor said. The kids zone and the shopping zone were a big draw, officials said.
Other sponsors of the event were Qatar Islamic Bank, Mashreq bank, Delight Group, and popular online community http://www.iloveqatar.net . Gulf Times was the media partner of the event.
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