A group of people in the UAE have organically come together and are placing fridges outside their homes, filling them with food and inviting labourers to came and take what they need!
WOW, with the terrorism, bombing and outright hate in the world this is a beam of hope and optimism and it is happening in the UAE!
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Some notes.
Sumaya Sayed
Janine Bensouda
Initiated by Sumaya sayed
An Australian mother of two is the brains behind an incredible new initiative that allows us to give to those less fortunate than us, throughout the month of Ramadan.
Locations on Google Maps
More than 90 fridges!
Ramadan Sharing Fridges!
22 438 members on FB!
The concept of a ‘sharing fridge’ isn’t new to the UAE – it’s part of Emirati tradition to share food and water, particularly over the month of Ramadan, but the power of Facebook has taken the initiative to a whole new level.
The idea is simple – a fridge is set up, the location is shared, people donate food and drink to the fridge, and people who need it most are encouraged to help themselves, free of charge (the fridges have posters on them telling people to help themselves, often in English, Urdu and Hindi).
Sumaya Sayed, the organiser of the initiative.
“It’s a little more challenging in Abu Dhabi as most people live in apartments, but we are expecting at least two to three fridges to be set up in Abu Dhabi by the end of the week,” said Sayed.
The community-based initiative has residents placing fridges in their garages and front lawns, to make food and drink accessible to construction workers, security guards, and gardeners in their area.
hrough word-of-mouth, more residents were encouraged to set up a Ramadan fridge at their homes, while word spread to workers from across the city.
“I am amazed by the amount of attention and the enthusiasm we are getting from people about getting involved. It’s great to see so many people asking about stocking up, dropping off food, and finding fridges,” explained Sayed.
She pointed out that in most areas, fridges are filling up and emptying out very quickly. “We are trying to keep up with the momentum, and are working round the clock to make sure the fridges are stocked,” she added.
Gulf News also talked to Anne Mulcahy, a resident at the Meadows, who was second to follow the initiative along with her neighbour, Alison Vickery.
“My friend offered her spare fridge, and I offered to place it in my empty garage, and together we set up the second Ramadan fridge location in the Meadows,” said Mulcahy.
Neighbours around the area have been supporting the duo, by dropping off food items along with hot dishes.
“We have a stock ready, and keep refilling the fridge regularly throughout the day. The food items include fruits and vegetables, bottles of juice, and lots of water,” said Mulcahy.
Packs of biscuits and other non-perishable food items are also placed in a box by the fridge.
“We also receive homemade dishes close to the time of iftar, for workers who prefer to end their fast with a hot meal,” said Mulcahy.
The Facebook group has also attracted fridge distributors and companies like Food for Life that have donated over 20kg of fruits and vegetables a day to different Ramadan fridges and an additional 2kg every time an order is made on their website.
Day 3 ramadan sharing reflection - thoughts of 11 year old Ayaan Nadeem
‘No one has ever became poor by giving.’ – Anne Frank. When I woke up, our fridge was lacking food however the only thing that was in the astounding fridge was freezing water. At 8 o’clock a hard working worker approached our fridge in the hopes of finding mouth-watering food, unfortunately we needed refills as fast as possible and the needy man left without nothing. All I could do was say sorry you didn’t get enough, and the answer that he gave was priceless. The innocent man said ‘’ No its more than enough.’’ I was astonished by his answer; he was very grateful by such a small thing. I believe there should be more people like him and he is a great role model and more people should have the trait like him.
Meet Chef Jagveer-who has helped us cook hundreds and hundreds of biryani packs every day - I happened to mention that various newspapers/ magazines are writing about the fridges and he very innocently requested if his pic can be featured in anyone of them❤️❤️ I humbly requested Pam Shakil and she confirmed we will try to make his wish come true- small gestures to motivate a hard working person to continue doing good deeds😇🙏🏻🙏🏻
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