DHAHRAN: Over 2,000 volunteers, mostly students, and 70 organizations engaged in charity work have joined hands to provide aid and support programs to citizens who are in need. The volunteering activities, which kicked off last weekend and will last until March 9, were organized by the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) Department of Volunteerism and aim to raise awareness of voluntary work in the community, as well as support the government and social institutions in their community service efforts, said Dr. Salem Aldini, head of volunteering activities at the university. “The 2,000 volunteers were divided into several teams and undertook 30 community service activities, such as cleaning areas of the cities of Dammam, Al-Khobar and Dhahran, visiting orphanages and the home of physically challenged children, providing food and furniture to poor families, visiting prisoners and inmates at the Al-Amal Hospital, a rehabilitation facility for drug addicts, and other support activities related to health and environment,” Dr. Aldini said. As part of the volunteering activities, an exhibition featuring the services of charitable organizations and non-government agencies began Saturday. Seven workshops to be conducted by volunteering experts from the United States, Canada, and other countries will also be convened during the four-day duration of the exhibition and workshops. “One of our objectives in inviting speakers to discuss volunteerism is to help our public schools set up their volunteerism activities so that our young people will learn and develop the spirit of volunteer work,” Dr. Aldini told Saudi Gazette. Most of those attending the workshops are students and teachers from various boys and girls school in the Eastern Province. “Our long term objective is to bring about an awareness of the volunteering culture, establish the foundation of volunteering in Saudi Arabia, and bring forth the best knowledge in volunteering activities to our young people,” Dr. Aldini said. He said it is also the task of the KFUPM Department of Volunteerism, through annual volunteer events, to provide training and motivation to Saudi volunteers to provide their services in other countries, particularly countries facing natural disasters. This is the third year that KFUPM has sponsored a Volunteering Week and the second year that it has held an exhibition fair.
