Volunteers spread Iftar cheer Volunteers from the Qatar Living Volunteer and iloveqatar.net volunteer groups came together this weekend to take part in their annual Iftar drive, giving away over 3,000 food packages to motorists, enabling them to break their fast. This is third time that the groups have combined to take part in the annual drive, and this year’s efforts represented a significant increase in comparison to previous events. Participants distributed food packages at the Airport and Ramada traffic intersections, where they presented drivers with Iftar packages. “Of course it is not possible to cover each and every signal or be there for every person fasting, but we do our best to help as many as we can with the limited resources of volunteers and packets for distribution that we have,” said one of the organisers, adding that this year was bigger, better and better supported than previous years. Gulf Times also spoke to the leader of the online group, Speed, about the initiative and the inspiration behind the group’s efforts. He explained that this year, some 3,000 bottles of water had been donated by the Family Food Centre’s Al Nassr branch, while 12,000 items had been donated by Al Jabor Opticians, the main sponsors of the campaign. Some 75 volunteers took part in the campaign, about double the number of last year’s participants. “This is a different campaign as it deals with religion, but many of the participants are non-Muslim, and they wanted to prove to others that ‘we are one’ – this is the message from this drive,” said Speed. “Some people had read about the drive said that they brought their families, saying that they are very happy to feel that there are people that care about them,” he explained. “The people really welcomed this kind of help and seeing people caring for each other,” he added. Participants also gain a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from taking part in such events, as Speed said: “Most of them feel that they have done a great job, helping people from various communities and religions.” “There are people that really care about these things, no matter what we see happening around the world,” he said. Speed explained that the various volunteer groups have combined to form one ‘Volunteer Group’ which has its own Facebook page and will soon be launching a website. He hoped to see the group registered as a charitable organisation, to help them to widen their efforts and receive donations. Speed also expressed gratitude to Qatar Red Crescent for their ongoing support in providing logistical assistance to the volunteers throughout their various campaigns. One participant described it as their “best-ever Iftar,” highlighting the joys that can be brought about by taking part in charitable efforts. “I have done both food preparation and distribution many times for homeless people in Toronto – I’m really happy to see that Qatar is also engaging in the same practice and I’m getting to be part of the good deed,” said another participant. Gulf Times

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