JEDDAH - A drive to collect used toys for orphans kicked off recently at different malls in Jeddah and Makkah. The charity drive, which ends at the end of this week, seeks to teach children the concept of charity. The toys are being collected by a team of 170 volunteers at seven different malls in Jeddah and Makkah. The four malls in Jeddah are Aziz Mall, Andalus Mall, Haifa Mall, and Mall of Arabia. Abdul Aziz Gurab, is a leader of one of the volunteer teams at Aziz Mall, said they want toys in good condition and preferably ones that do not require batteries. Gurab said that his group has already collected 300 toys, some of which are new. Working tirelessly every night between 10:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., Gurab believes that malls are the best place to raise awareness of the drive. “Families tend to come here to buy their own stuff so it's a good way of driving the message home. Some donors have been even purchased new toys as gifts.” Mustafa Qurashi the deputy chairman of the board of directors at Friends of Society Association said that this is the second year the toy collection drive has been held. He said they distribute the toys to children in poor neighborhoods. To aid their distribution plans over the Eid holidays, the association consults mosques to identify the families most in need of their gifts.
