Dubai: A retiring employee of a multinational in Dubai has set a fine example in marking occasions with a heartwarming gesture.
Mona Elsaka, communications director at Pepsico, told XPRESS that the company’s senior vice-president and regional head of supply chain Joseph Zakaria chose to forego a farewell party his colleagues were planning for him with a request that the money they had set aside for the occasion be donated for a good cause.
Leadership team
“Zakaria was retiring after 23 years of service at Pepsico. He was part of our leadership team and when it was time to say goodbye, a group of us wanted to have a farewell party and buy him a gift,” said Elsaka.
But far from going with the customary practice, Zakaria requested his colleagues to donate the amount they had set aside for the farewell party to Wings of Angelz, a voluntary group that is working towards building ramps across Dubai to make it more wheelchair-friendly. Accordingly, some of Zakaria’s colleagues collected the cash to be given to Shobhika Kalra, founder of Wings of Angelz.
Kalra, who is wheelchair- bound as she suffers from a degenerative muscular disorder, said, “We are so grateful to PepsiCo for their act of kindness and plan to utilise the money to develop an app to help people with disabilities. Krista Pilot, vice-president, corporate affairs, PepsiCo, handed the cheque to me on behalf of her colleagues.”
Kalra said Wings of Angelz had so far helped construct over 900 ramps across Dubai for the benefit of people in wheelchairs.
Elsaka said her colleagues’ gesture is in keeping with the culture at PepsiCo. “We strive to do good in whatever way possible in our business. Zakaria extended this philosophy to his personal life as well. Giving back to society is something we strongly believe in at Pepsico.”
