Laura Bashraheel Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – With volunteer work gaining greater acceptance in Saudi society, youngsters are starting their own charity organizations to help their communities in every possible manner. A group of young Saudis from Riyadh launched a humanitarian group in March 2010 under the name HelpingHands KSA with the goal of supporting orphans and widows. The main focus of HelpingHands is to help orphans living in Riyadh integrate into mainstream society without encountering racial or social prejudice. The group also organizes voluntary programs to help orphans and underprivileged families in Riyadh. This Ramadan, for the third year running, the group is providing needy people with food and clothes as well as money to pay rent. The organization has passed around a grocery list to prepare food baskets that will be distributed among underprivileged families throughout the holy month. “People prepare their own boxes and send them to HelpingHands KSA while others send large quantities of canned food or rice, and our volunteers pack the boxes and distribute them among needy families," said Mai Al-Helabi, a founding member of the group. Last Ramadan, HelpingHands was able to collect 227 food baskets and distribute them among 120 families. HelpingHands does not accept cash donations from sponsors and its expenses are covered by the members themselves and their families. “We are not an officially registered charity yet. So we provide a list of essential items to the likely sponsors who can directly supply them to needy families," said Leen Al-Hejailan, another founding member. Throughout the year, HelpingHands carries out several charity programs, one of which is the Orphanage Teaching Program. It is described as the most successful program launched by the group. Under this program, young Saudi volunteers collaborate with supervisors of orphanages and the Ministry of Social Affairs to help direct community service initiatives toward positively impacting the lives of children living in orphanages. Another primary program HelpingHands initiated is the Big Brother, Big Sister Program (Usra Sadeeqa), which is designed to integrate children from orphanages with families in their communities and to eventually provide mentors to the children for guidance and support. Families and individuals are given the chance to foster/mentor one or more of the children for specific periods such as holidays, weekends, or summer vacations. As part of efforts to initiate the Food, Rent and Clothing Program, HelpingHands has built a database of around 150 underprivileged families living in Riyadh and surrounding areas. “In HelpingHands KSA we concentrate on families that have no primary breadwinners, such as a father or brother or working mother, or families that have sick, imprisoned or incapable providers," said Tala Al-Hejailan, another founding member of the group. “We are fortunate to have such a dedicated team of volunteers. We made remarkable achievements since our launch in 2010. Today the dedicated volunteers and selfless members of the community, including commercial establishments, writers and students, all make it possible for HelpingHands KSA to be creative and start a new culture of sustainability in many ways," said Al-Hejailan. The group can be reached on their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/105897419441462/
