Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Charity champions, The Conserving Bounties Society, is set to receive major support from five star hotels, restaurants and hypermarkets throughout the holy month to help provide food packages to underprivileged families and labourers as part of an Ramadan initiative.
The non-profit organisation, which was founded in 2014, is run by a team of 16 big-hearted individuals in a dedicated office space with IT facilities and a storage area at the VIVA tower in Seef.
Its aim is to create a food bank to help reduce wastage and to help feed the needy.
Since its launch, it has assisted more than 300 families and 3,000 labourers. Thawra Al Dhaen, the society’s chief executive officer, is delighted that the initiative continues to gain support.
GulfWeekly, Bahrain’s campaigning community newspaper, has joined up with Mumtalakat to support its Spirit of Ramadan double caring and sharing initiative this holy month.
The sovereign wealth fund’s employees and family members first stepped forward to help pack Iftar and Suhoor food packages to be distributed by the society last year and members of this newspaper’s team will join them this month to help pack up parcels of goodness and help make a difference.
“It’s a great initiative, as far as Mumtalakat’s involvement,” said Thawra. “With respect to the GulfWeekly, I have no doubt it will help to spread the message very fast and help us reach an even larger number of the population.”
The Conserving Bounties Society’s mission is to establish partnerships with individuals and institutions to conserve excess food and to distribute it to the respective beneficiaries.
“In doing this, it has helped in reducing the amount of food wastage significantly and eventually reduced the amount of food waste directed to the municipal landfill on a daily basis, which has a negative impact on the environment,” explained Thawra. “This is consistent with the goals of sustainable development initiated by the kingdom as part of Bahrain’s Vision 2030 requirements – specifically objective No 2 on the complete elimination of hunger and also the objective No 12 on ensuring the existence of patterns for sustainable consumption and production of food as well as prevention, reduction, recycling of the surplus of food.”
She believes The Conserving Bounties Society has become ‘a necessity rather than a luxurious initiative’ because of continuing food waste and the need to drive the environmental message home.
The volunteers have partnered with several five-star hotels inlcuding The Sheraton Hotel Bahrain, the Gulf Hotel Bahrain Convention & Spa, the Movenpick Hotel Bahrain, ART Rotana Amwaj Islands and Downtown Rotana. It has also linked up with Lulu Hypermarket and Alosra.
The food collected from these establishments follow all internationally-recognised health and safety standards the meal ingredients are sourced from large-gathering events and venues. It is distributed on the same day using vans donated for the initiative by local companies.
“They must be in good condition and untouched by hands,” said Thawra. “Food should not be wasted and any left-overs should be donated to someone who needs it. Always remember, that your excess is someone-else’s relief.
“Be thankful to all the bounties that we have and what can be achieved through saving those bounties instead of wasting them. We are at the community’s service and whoever needs a hot meal can contact us. We ensure the confidentiality of all beneficiaries.”
Individuals or an organisation that has surplus food during the holy month and would like to help should contact the society on 33499499 for more details.
The Spirit of Ramadan campaign will also provide meals to children in need around the world through the smartphone application, ShareTheMeal, designed to fight global hunger through the UN World Food Programme (WFP). ShareTheMeal, which features more than 920,000 downloads and 17 million meals shared as of November 2017, enables users to make small donations to specific WFP projects and to track its progress. The ongoing projects provide meals for children in Syria, Palestine, India and refugee camps across the globe.
GulfWeekly readers have a chance to ensure Spirit of Ramadan makes its own mark throughout the holy month and beyond. Follow #Mumtalakat4BH for more details.
Download the ShareTheMeal app from AppStore or GooglePlay and join #Mumtalakat4BH team.
