Dubai: All roads led to the Dubai’s Expo City on Saturday as thousands of community members turned up to volunteer for the relief aid collection initiative held as part of the ‘UAE Stands with Lebanon’ campaign.
According to officials, people started to pour in at the South Hall of the Dubai Exhibition Centre from morning hours.
By 10am, there were long queues running outside the centre to support the initiative to send supplies to those affected by the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.
“We all are here to lend a helping hand. We thank the UAE leadership for this. People in Lebanon and Syria need the world to come together to offer their support,” said a volunteer.
This initiative comes as part of the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and with the follow-up of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, and under the supervision of Shaikh Theyab bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes’ Affairs and Chair of the International Humanitarian and Philanthropic Council.
10,000 kits
Officials say the aim is to pack 10,000 kits. The kits were divided into three boxes: Women’s, baby’s and a winter basket. The kit included soap, shampoo bottles, toothbrushes, toothpaste, sanitary napkins, towels, body cream, hand sanitiser, razors, blankets, baby food, diapers, feeding bottles, milk powder and biscuits. The winter basket contained blankets, towels, socks and jackets.
Volunteers
Dubai Cares organised the collection of relief aid with the support of volunteers and several entities. The initiative is part of a public campaign that began on October 8 and will run until October 21. Another round of collection and packing of relief aid will be held on Sunday at Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal, Zayed Port.
There was a strong sense of community spirit and an air of optimism as people, several sporting the Lebanese flags and the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, clapped and cheered as they started the proceedings.
Emirati friends Abeer Al Naqbi, hailing from Ras Al Khaimah, and Dr Mona Al Raisi from Dubai, turned up early for the noble cause at the South Hall of the Dubai Exhibition Centre.
“I left my home early in the morning to be here. We love and support Lebanon and its people. We joined the Gaza relief campaign as well,” Abeer said.
Helping hand
Siblings Mark and Clara Habbouch from Lebanon appreciated the outpouring of support from the UAE community as volunteers continued to flow even at noon.
“This is amazing, but we are not surprised [by the turnout] because this is Dubai and the UAE,” said the duo, joined by friends Laura Bachir, Karim Abou Ghanem, and Chloe Abdel Massih, all registered volunteers. “We have relatives back home. We are helping people back home by sending these kits and donations,” they said.
People were seen making donations at the booth run by Emirates Red Crescent. Some even came with packs of clothes and essentials to donate.
Naya Afif and Sara Bachir, both from Lebanon, noted the coming together of the community sends a strong message of unity and solidarity.
“This initiative will provide needed assistance in difficult times,” they said.
Overwhelming support
Officials acknowledged being “overwhelmed” by the unexpected footfalls and noted that more such locations would be announced in the coming days.
“We were expecting about 2,500 volunteers, but we are estimating between 3,500-4,500. There is another initiative in Abu Dhabi, which will be held on Sunday. We will ship this aid in a few days. We expect to host more initiatives in the coming day, but the locations are yet to be confirmed,” said Dr Tariq Al Gurg, CEO and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares.
Fouad Chehab Dandan, Ambassador of Lebanon to UAE, highlighted that the UAE has contributed $100 million in aid and sent nine relief planes carrying 375 tonnes of supplies to Lebanon.
“I thank President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for this initiative and for responding to our needs. It started with the September bombing in Lebanon. We have a great need for medical supplies and aid. The UAE has been the first to respond."
'Thank you, UAE'
Dandan thanked the community members for making the campaign a grand success.
“The ‘UAE stand with Lebanon’ is a public initiative. I am surprised to see the large number of volunteers who have turned up here. We will remain grateful for the support.”
Volunteers packed about 10,000 kits, divided into three boxes: women’s, baby’s, and a winter basket. The kit included soap, shampoo bottles, toothbrushes, toothpaste, sanitary napkins, towels, body cream, hand sanitizer, razors, blankets, baby food, diapers, feeding bottles, milk powder and biscuits. The winter basket contained blankets, towels, socks and jackets.
Dubai Cares organised the collection of relief aid with the support of volunteers and several entities. The initiative is part of a public campaign that began on October 8 and will run until October 21. Another round of collection will be held at Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal, Zayed Port, on Sunday (9 am to 1 pm).
