Harvest Festival raises money for charity

Abu Dhabi: More than 4,000 people went on a shopping spree during a Harvest Festival for charity at an Indian church recently.

"All over the world, people are apprehensive to spend money these days, but we have been receiving more income since last year [December 2008] from this event," Reverend Thomas Kurien Anchery, vicar of the Marthoma Church in Mussaffah, told Gulf News.

The church has been conducting its annual Harvest Festival for more than 30 years to raise money for charitable activities in the UAE and India.

Reverend K.C. Varghese, assistant vicar of the church, inaugurated the festival by hoisting the UAE national flag on Wednesday.

"This year, we collected more than Dh400,000 despite minimal sponsorships from the businesses," he said.

"The church members' spirit [to support the charity] was visible as they contributed about 90 per cent of the items sold this year," he said. "The business community has been supporting many other activities of the church throughout the year, so we didn't bother them much for this event," the vicar said.

Several family groups prepare traditional dishes at home to be sold at the festival.

Fact file: ‘First fruits'

Believers celebrate the Harvest Festival according to the Exodus Bible verse ‘Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field' (Exodus Chapter 23 Verse 16).

Traditionally, Harvest Festival well-wishers take donations to the church, which are distributed to the less fortunate members of society, such as the elderly, homeless and less affluent. Schools also participate in the Festival, sometimes delivering the donations to rest homes in their areas.