When the residents
of Aleppo cried for help, HH The Emir Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani cancelled its national
day celebrations on December 18 and decided to donate the funds to the Syrians
in need. The emir asked the residents to focus more on the efforts to
help Aleppo people.
I still remember
the day my colleague and good friend Rezaa asked me to donate some clothes for
Syrians in 2013 when I was working in AJE. His sister and brother-in-law were
volunteers helping people in the war-torn Syria. He had thanked me when I had
given him two bags full of clothes to help the people.
Unfortunately, he
lost both his sister and brother-in-law in one of the bombings in Syria. This
year, again when Syria is in distress and it cried for help, I fondly remembered
Rezaa and the initiative he had taken to help the people in distress. Though we
both are no more in AJE, we donated for the cause and thanked each other for
helping the needy brethren.
Like us, thousands of residents
wholeheartedly donated in cash and kind to help evacuate and rehabilitate
displaced Syrians from Aleppo at a special event conducted at the Darb el-Saai
in Doha.
The collection, more than QR 245
million ($67.2 million) in less than six hours, is just an example of how
generous the residents of Qatar when it comes to help the needy.
The massive fund-raising event
which was supposed to close by 10pm was extended late into the night following
huge demand.
As soon as the announcement was
made by the emir to help Syrians, the people came forward to help. There was a
deluge of promises for help in cash and kind. Over 100 donation boxes (for cash
and kind) were placed at Darb el-Saai.
Jassim and Hamad bin Jassim
Charitable Foundation (HBJ Foundation) donated QR50m while the Ministry of
Awqaf and Islamic Affairs donated QR10m. Qatar Development Bank, Ooredoo and
Barwa Real State Company all donated QR5m each. Several individuals gave away
QR1m to QR3m each.
While several other public and
private companies donated for the cause, many women donated watches, jewelry
and other expensive items. Several brand new and used vehicles were also
donated and kept up for sale, with the proceeds going to charity.
Several Qatari companies and
families cancelled their celebration plans and donated the money earmarked for
it for the Aleppo cause. There were several activities at the venue dedicated
to encourage people to donate.
Five leading Qatari charities - Qatar
Charity, Eid Charity, Qatar Red Crescent Society, Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah
Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) and Afif Charity - joined hands for
the event at Darb el-Saai.
Long live Qatar and its residents
for such a kind gesture!
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