VOTE OF THANKS for IFTAR DRIVE
4 years into the existence of Qatar Volunteers, an online Volunteers community comprising of members from Qatarliving.com, iLoveqatar.net & entries from Facebook.com, it was time again to carry out one of our annual campaigns that promote the joining of hands of different nationalities, religions, and race to offer Help to fellow mankind. Thus with the dawning of the Holy Month of Ramadan, where our Muslim brothers & sisters keep fast during the day from dawn – dusk as part of the religious customs, Qatar Volunteers began its preparations for its Annual Iftar Drive. We at Qatar Volunteers (QV) picked August 13th 2011 as the date for the Iftar Drive 2011, an event which has become a trademark of QV to hand out Food packs to people who are driving, rushing to reach home to their families to break the fast but are still on the road due to work or other commitments. Similar to last year, the Airport Traffic signal & Ramada Traffic Signal were chosen as the 2 spots for the distribution.
This event would not have been such a grand success if it was not for the support from Al Jaber Opticians, our principal sponsor, and we at QV owe our sincere gratitude to Al Jaber Opticians for generously donating 3000 Food packs, which is double the quantity we had distributed last year. The packets had - a Date pack, Maamoul Biscuit, Wet Wipes, Bottled Water, and a Juice. In addition to the above, Al Jaber Optician also organized the Catering of Iftar Food for all the volunteers to share together and break their fast after assisting all the motorists on the roads.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to Family Food Center, who have supported this event with their generosity by providing special prices for the food items mentioned above and also providing all the 3000 Water Bottles and carryon bags Free of Cost in support of QV’s campaign.
Our sincere thanks to Qatar Red Crescent who have been a continuous help and support to all our events since last year, by providing us with storage space & packing facilities so that we could pack the 3000 bags for distribution within 2 days.
At the onset of the announcement of this event on the social portals, volunteers of QV from various backgrounds and different communities stepped forward on the packing days by spending around 4 – 5 hours each day to complete the packing; and on the Distribution Day – 13.08.2011, we were supported by approximately 70 Volunteers in around 40 cars. An hour and a half before the Iftar Time, the volunteers gathered together to pick up their bags for distribution and dispersed to the pre-planned locations, and at the onset of the cannon blast, all the Iftar packs were handed out to the fasting motorists who had not reached the haven of their homes as yet. The heartfelt “Thank you’s” and special Duaa’ that the volunteers hear from the grateful motorists makes this campaign and joined effort worthwhile.
In addition to our sponsors, we would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every volunteer who had turned up on the allocated packing days and distribution day, giving the campaign their precious weekend time and their efforts as they worked relentlessly and made this event such a huge success.
Once again, Qatar Volunteers, would like to thank its Sponsor, Al Jaber Opticians, and its main supporters Family Food Center & Qatar Red Crescent as well as its volunteers, for all the support rendered to make this event a grand success. With everyone’s support and affection, QV shall keep achieving newer heights and hence spread our reach to touch more lives.
As Sir Winston Churchill has rightly said “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”
