Dubai: Passengers transiting through Dubai Airports have generously supported children’s education worldwide since 2010 with a whopping Dh3.5 million in total contributions so far — not to mention a Dh390,000 one-time donation from a very generous donor last year.
Dubai Airports and Dubai cares released the figures on Sunday as the two entities signed another agreement to extend their partnership for another three years to help fund educational programmes in developing countries.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said the Dh3.5 million collected throughout the past seven years were dropped in the 80 donation boxes spread across two terminals. Last year, Dubai Airports collected more than Dh640,000 in support of Dubai Cares.
“Our goal in year one of this agreement is to work with Dubai Cares to double that contribution and support thousands of children and young people who currently don’t have access to quality education,” Griffiths said.
Griffiths said they aim to deliver around Dh1.3 million of donations every year over the next three years through the donation boxes and a dedicated donation webpage accessible from www.dubaiairports.ae. The page can also be accessed through the Wi-Fi landing page, which is used by 120,000 people daily.
Tareq Al Gurg, Dubai Cares CEO, said some 120 additional donation boxes will be spread across the three terminals of Dubai International and the Al Maktoum International Airport, where 90 million customers transit every year.
“We’re not only taking this opportunity as a fund raising activity. We’re trying to use the platforms of Dubai Airports where they have millions of passengers passing by from almost 200 nationalities. We [Dubai Cares] are in 25 per cent of these nationalities, that’s 45 to 50 countries, so we are also trying to promote what the UAE is doing in these countries through these airports so these people can see the messages on these donation boxes and contribute,” Al Gurg said.
Al Gurg explained the collections for the first year will help children in emergencies like Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, and children affected by the Nepal earthquake in 2015 to help them catch up with school kids their age.
Since 2010, Dubai Cares has provided education programmes reaching more than 16 million beneficiaries in 45 developing countries.
Al Gurg urged passengers and residents to not underestimate loose change or even small bills as collectively, they can make a difference in people’s lives.
“Every dirham counts. Education is the most expensive development humanitarian programme. We have seen coins as small as 50 fils and it’s counted. We have seen coins in different currencies,” Al Gurg said.
“But we have also seen a bulk cash of Dh390,000 in one donation box from one person. It was very clear because it was all new notes. So you have a person who gives 50 fils and a person who would give Dh100 or Dh10 or Dh100,000, and every single one of them counts because the cost of education is too high and we need more of those [donations].”
HOW TO DONATE:
Drop your money in the donation boxes at the terminals.
Visit the donation webpage accessible from www.dubaiairports.ae. The Wi-Fi landing page also leads to that donation page.
FAST FACTS:
— 80 Donation boxes currently
— 120 donation boxes to be added across the four terminals
— Each box is collected and its content counted every three to four weeks.
— Each box may contain a total donation of between Dh3,000 and Dh10,000 depending on the size.
— The largest one-time donation was Dh390,000 by an anonymous donor end of last year.
