dubai Two expatriates living in Emirates Living have placed refrigerators outside their homes to provide foodstuffs to poor workers this Ramadan.
Dutch expat Fikra Boukoua Yel living in Meadows has been keeping foodstuffs outside her house for the last two years, but this year, she is asking other residents to donate food, water or juices.
“Most of these workers make a pittance and find it too expensive to buy foodstuffs from the groceries in the area. We would like to help these poor souls and it would be nice if other members of the community could contribute,” Yel said.
permanent feature
Following Yel’s initiative, another Springs resident, Rahul Sharma, has also decided to keep a refrigerator outside his villa.
“It’s a great initiative. While this is the first time I’ve done it, going forward, it will be a permanent feature. I will be keeping the fridge throughout the year for anyone to drop off food items.”
Yel has also been distributing flyers around the community to encourage people to donate food. “This will be a boon to poor workers who normally pick up stuff from the nearby mart to have at iftar,” she said.
Yel said she is happy with the response. “People have dropped off home-cooked meals, pizza, soft drinks and laban ups and other food items,” she said.
Her seven-year-old daughter Rauda said someone even donated soap for the needy workers. “I don’t even know these people who are putting things in my fridge. They just come, keep things in the fridge and leave. It’s heartening to see the community coming to help this way,” said Yel.
One of the workers expressed his gratitude to the donors. “It is really nice of people to spare a thought for us. I take the food to my accommodation and share it with my friends at iftar,” he said.
A gardener who did not know about the free food was happy when his friend told him about it. “It’s a blessing for us. You know I have never eaten a pizza because I could never afford one.”
