Big-hearted shoppers helped make Ramadan a special time for many needy families across the kingdom with their generous donations during Bahrain City Centre’s (BCC) community campaign.

The drive, entitled ‘Make a Difference this Ramadan’, which was supported by GulfWeekly, encouraged people to contribute used or new everyday items for a good cause.

The campaign that gathered momentum throughout the holy month has seen a steady flow of donations in the form of clothes, books, eye glasses and non-perishable food.

More than 6,060 items were collected during last year’s initiative and this year more than 7,700 items were gathered for the cause. The collections included more than 2,000 bags of clothing, more than 3,600 books, more than 140 pairs of glasses and more than 2,000 food items.

Duaij Khalifa Al Rumaihi, BCC’s senior mall manager, said: “In the fourth year of the annual ‘Make a Difference this Ramadan’ charitable initiative, we are pleased to have another amazing turnout of participants and goods donated.

“Bahrain City Centre’s focus is to give back to the community that we reside in through a variety of Corporate Social Responsibility campaigns and we thank our loyal shoppers for donating items this Ramadan to those less fortunate.”

GulfWeekly Editor Stan Szecowka added: “I would also like to thank our readers for their tremendous support to another of our community campaigns.”

Among the supporters who were there from the beginning were the energetic members of City Walkers who put their best foot forward to kick-start the campaign.

Regular walker Flo Richardson, 67, was donating goods three-times-a-week in conjunction with her workout. The housewife, from Seef, said: “I have been taking part in City Walkers since its inception. It is fun, great exercise and you get to meet a lot of lovely people.

“The Bahrain City Centre initiative is fantastic and is such a worthy cause. I have been making donations every year alongside City Walkers. It’s great for ridding your closets and drawers of items that you either do not use anymore or grew out of.”

Her friend and walking buddy Kay Sarin, 69, from Juffair, made her last donation at the mall as she left Bahrain for good.

 Before bidding farewell to the island Mrs Sarin said: “I have been coming to City Walkers for nearly two-and-a-half years and because of it I have met a lovely bunch of people and my social life was fabulous. The kingdom and its people will forever be dear to me. This is such a great cause that I could not have left without taking part in it.”

Not to be left behind, a couple of retail outlets did their bit to support the initiative as well. Their bags contained donations from staff as well as unsold previous stock.

The chic and stylish Karen Millen store, one of the retailers under the multi-trading business umbrella of Remza Investment Group, donated 10 dresses to the initiative that will no doubt come in handy during Eid celebrations.

Rabab Mubarak, territory sales manager representing Karen Millen, said: “I think this event is truly touching and wonderful. I have seen a lot of people participating in it every day and it has grown since last year.

“I hope that the women make good use of the dresses and I’m sure they will look beautiful for Eid.”

Staff members from The Body Shop also made generous contributions. Marilou Samson, the store’s sales associate, said: “Employees from all the branches in Bahrain have donated items. This is a fantastic charity event where items we don’t use or need can benefit others.”

Campaign organisers teamed up with renowned charity champions Al Noor Charity Welfare Society, who have been supporting those in need throughout the kingdom since 1997.

The charity provides funding for educational and medical purposes to those in need alongside other initiatives such as helping to rebuild homes and caring for the elderly in the community.

After the donations made their way to Al Noor’s headquarters in A’ali, they were then distributed to needy families across the kingdom.

For more information on Al Noor Charity Welfare Society, call 17665335.