How and where to give during Ramadan 2015 in the UAE

We round up a list of registered local and international charities and non-profit organisations, one for every day of the holy month, through which you can give back to the community.

Day 1: Adopt-a-Camp Foundation This registered non-profit organisation has been working with more than 57,000 labourers living in 53 camps. Its volunteers are busy all year round giving English lessons, organising sports tournaments and scheduling counselling and hygiene sessions. Every year, Adopt-a-Camp also organises iftars.

• Visit www.adoptacamp.ae; email [e-mail]

Day 2: The Palestine Children's Relief Fund PCRF was established in 1991 to provide medical support to Palestinian youth affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. It has now extended its services to all children in need of treatment and aid in the region.

• Visit www.pcrf.net; email [e-mail]

Day 3: Food Banking Regional Network The food bank, with its headquarters in Dubai, connects regional and international networks to coordinate food and nutritional programmes and helps fight hunger in deprived communities.

• Visit foodbankingregionalnetwork.com; email [e-mail]

Day 4: Care Foundation The Pakistan-based non-profit has been funding primary and secondary school education for underprivileged children since 1988. Today, Care runs 352 schools through which it provides education to 180,000 students.

• Visit www.carepakistan.org; email [e-mail]

Day 5: Helping Little Angels The organisation undertakes rehabilitation projects in Pakistan, supporting education for young girls and orphans, providing water pumps where they are not available, distributing books and setting up Quran learning centres.

• Visit www.helpinglittleangels.org.uk; email [e-mail]

Day 6: Red Crescent Society of the UAE The UAE chapter of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies was created in 1983 and runs humanitarian aid programmes around the world. Crystal Hotels & Resorts in Abu Dhabi and Red Crescent are sponsoring a Dh2,500 iftar, where up to 20 orphans will be treated to a magic show, face painting and gifts.

• Visit www.rcuae.ae or call 800 733

Day 7: Shukran Workers A group of long-time residents of Dubai started organising welfare drives for construction workers as a way to give back to the community. The programmes include asking residents to personally deliver care packets to labourers and taking house helpers for movie nights.

• Shukran Workers are on Facebook; email [e-mail]

Day 8: All 4 Down Syndrome Dubai This voluntary support group is made up of parents of children with Down syndrome and medical and education professionals. The group helps raise awareness of the disorder and provides counselling for families and training opportunities for teachers to ensure better integration in schools.

• Visit www.all4downsyndrome.com; email [e-mail]

Day 9: The [sameness] project The Dubai-based social innovators have put into motion a range of activities to connect workers and enhance their lives. Projects include distribution of water on construction sites, providing fitness classes to taxi drivers and creating collaboration opportunities for mainstream school students with special-needs children.

• Visit www.thesamenessproject.com; email [e-mail]

Day 10: Unicef – UAE The international organisation runs projects to create gender equality and protect children's rights all over the world. Its initiatives are backed by donations and cover everything from education and medical aid to assisting the disabled and protecting children.

• Visit www.unicef.org; email [e-mail]

Day 11: Dubai Cares An international organisation launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and the Ruler of Dubai, in 2007. It has multiple active projects aimed at promoting primary education and gender equality in developing countries, besides being involved in building schools, teacher training and improving water, sanitation and hygiene in the communities.

• Visit www.dubaicares.ae; call 04 450 4550

Day 12: Beit Al Khair Society Set up by UAE businessmen in 1989, the society has developed projects to help the needy, widows, divorcees, orphans, individuals with low-income, the sick, victims of disasters, insolvents and families of prison inmates. It provides this support with the help of donations and volunteers.

• Visit www.beitalkhair.org; call 800 22 554

Day 13: Maria Cristina Foundation Former flight attendant Maria Conceicao started this foundation in 2005 after witnessing extreme poverty on one of her trips to Bangladesh. Since then the foundation has tried to meet the educational goals of children in Dhaka slums and invites donors to sponsor a child or support a family.

• Visit mariacristinafoundation.org; call 04 386 0087

Day 14: Noor Dubai The 2008 initiative by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid was a response to WHO statistics that show one person in the world goes blind every five seconds because of the lack of access to treatment. Noor Dubai works on a threefold programme to prevent, treat and educate against eye diseases, and delivers free care all over the world.

• Visit www.noordubai.ae; email [e-mail]; call 800 633

Day 15: Ewa'a Shelter for Women and Children The shelter was established to combat human trafficking and provide refuge to victims. It works with local and international organisations to provide relief and rehabilitation for women and children and operates a hotline to involve the public in its endeavours.

• Visit www.shwc.ae; call 800 7283

Day 16: American Refugee Committee ARC works with partners around the world to provide opportunities to refugees and assists in building back lives in conflict zones through health care and self-sufficiency programmes.

• Visit www.arcrelief.org; email [e-mail]

Day 17: International Association for Human Values IAHV offers programmes that reduce stress and develops leaders to promote human values around the world. They send response and disaster-management teams to areas of distress, provide subsidised alternative-energy options in places that lack grids and work with prisoners to reduce stress, aggression and trauma.

• Visit www.iahv.org; email [e-mail]

Day 18: Kinder Hut The international non-profit organisation is registered in Indonesia and is involved in helping disaster victims, orphans and destitute women and prepares them for integration back into society.

• Visit www.kinderhut.org; email [e-mail]

Day 19: Jordan Health Aid Society The organisation brings together medical practitioners and teaching staff to offer assistance in Jordan, Gaza, Sudan, Libya and Yemen. They have an office in Dubai.

• Visit www.jordanhealthaid.org; email [e-mail]

Day 20: Valley of Love This home-grown network of UAE-based volunteers assists those without the means to resolve financial and legal issues in the UAE.

• Email [e-mail]; call 050 514 3183

Day 21: Scottish St Andrews Society of Abu Dhabi The organisation fosters links between Scottish residents of the capital and other nationalities. It also organises events to raise money for select charities every year. This year the society is supporting the UAE-based Louis Smith Foundation, which supports teenagers suffering from depression, and Alzheimer Scotland, an organisation that backs and influences public policy for the benefit of people with dementia in Scotland.

• Visit www.adscots.com

Day 22: Emirates Wildlife Society – WWF EWS raises awareness about the UAE's ecological footprint and the need to protect biodiversity, while also contributing to a policy framework that addresses environmental issues. It runs community projects and educational programmes with volunteers year-round to encourage an eco-friendly lifestyle.

• Visit uae.panda.org; call 02 634 7117

Day 23: Operation Smile UAE The international charity works on raising funds for free surgeries for children born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. Its UAE arm, which was established in 2011, has led several treatments and aftercare programmes in Asia, including those in Jordan, India, the Philippines and China.

• Visit arabemirates.operationsmile.org; call 02 658 4790

Day 24: The Special Care Centre, Abu Dhabi Located in Al Dhafrah, the centre provides educational and vocational courses to children with special needs. The management runs the facility on donations and hopes to move to bigger premises to accommodate more children.

• For more information, call 02 641 8418

Day 25: Abu Dhabi Animal Shelter This registered non-profit organisation takes in strays, runs a trap-neuter-return programme, provides treatment and finds fosters and forever homes for abandoned pets.

• Visit www.abudhabianimalshelter.com; email [e-mail]

Day 26: Human Appeal International HAI was established in 1984 by Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman, to aid underprivileged societies worldwide. Its donations and volunteers help develop educational, health and social opportunities for the needy, contribute in relief operations and provide care for orphans.

• Visit www.hai.ae; call 06 747 1777

Day 27: Al Ihsan Charity Association Center The charity aims to make families self-sufficient by providing educational opportunities and training, especially to children from broken homes and widows. With the help of volunteers, it also distributes care packages, clothes and other amenities to poor families and orphans in the UAE.

• Visit www.alihsan.ae; email [e-mail]

Day 28: Sharjah Charity International The Sharjah-based charity collects zakat and sponsors orphans, widows and the poor, and undertakes the construction of schools, mosques and clinics in the UAE and the Middle East, East Africa and Asia.

• Visit www.shjc.sharjah.ae; call 06 566 4111

Day 29: Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services The organisation runs education, training and rehabilitation centres for individuals with disabilities, with branches in Kalba, Khor Fakkan and Al Thaid. It also organises awareness campaigns to promote inclusion in society.

• Visit www.schs.ae; call 06 567 1117

Day 30: Dar Al Ber Society The charity has been providing humanitarian aid in the UAE and worldwide since 1978. It is involved in education and medical programmes in the country and abroad, building mosques and funding infrastructure projects in the community. It has branches in Dubai, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah.

• Visit www.daralber.ae; call 07 236 4071