Dubai: Boxes of supplies put together by pupils in UAE schools will soon be sent to underprivileged children around the world under the ‘For You’ initiative launched by the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA), it was announced on Monday.
Thousands of small boxes will be distributed to pupils who will fill them up with stationery and other school supplies of their choice.
Under the directives of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, the boxes will serve as letters of care and love between school children in the UAE and their counterparts in different countries around the world.
The initiative is being held as HIPA’s participation in the Year of Zayed, in partnership with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Emirates Red Crescent, Emirates Post Group and Dubai Media.
Ali Bin Thalith, secretary-general of HIPA, said the innovative concept aims to teach school children in the UAE the value of giving and helping children around their age who don’t enjoy the same privileges and rights they do.
“By giving the children the chance to pick their own gifts to send to children in other countries, HIPA has become a bridge of love and charity between the UAE and the rest of the world,” Bin Thalith said.
Bin Thalith said HIPA completed the first step of this initiative at the end of 2017 during a visit to the UAE-Jordanian refugee camp in Jordan and “HIPA will announce more developments in the future”.
Bin Thalith invited all UAE schools to register for the ‘For You’ initiative through the official website www.lakum.ae.
“All schools will be given a period of time to fill up empty boxes before they are picked up by Emirates Post Group that will then deliver them to the Emirates Red Crescent to dispatch around the world,” Bin Thalith said.
Rashid Mubarak Al Mansouri, deputy secretary-general for local affairs at the Emirates Red Crescent said: “The initiative will no doubt bring happiness and hope to many children around the world through the massive efforts put by communities in the UAE.”
