Ajman charity to spend Dh57.5m helping others during Ramadan

Human Appeal International said the money would be used to help thousands of low-income families both in the UAE and abroad

An Ajman charity will spend Dh57.5 million helping underprivileged people across the country this Ramadan.

Human Appeal International said the money would be used towards several projects and help thousands of low-income families both in the UAE and abroad.

Details of the campaign were revealed on Thursday – just under a month before the holy month is expected to begin.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi, chairman of the appeal's board of trustees, said donations to the charity increased by almost a quarter this year compared to 2017, jumping up from Dh194m to Dh232m. 
"We are aspiring to make charitable work and doing good, a life style for UAE nationals and residents," said Sheikh Mohammed.

"This is not new to UAE, our founding father considered making others happy a national treasure. That's why we are committed to charity work."
Dh20m of the campaign money will be distributed for Zakat, Dh5m will help care for orphaned children and Dh25m will be used in medical, educational, and social development projects.
An additional Dh4m will be allocated to provide more than 120,000 underprivileged individuals with meals to break their fast during the holy month.
"Dh1m will be used to provide Eid clothing, Dh2m to cover for Zakat Al Fitr and Dh500,000 will be used to donate food," he said.
Since its inception in 1984, the charity has helped care for more than 120,000 orphaned children, 62,000 of them from the UAE and the remaining from countries.
"Last year, around 9,000 families received aid from the appeal and in the past three months alone, we provided financial help to more than 5,000 needy families in the UAE, to pay for electricity and other sort of bills," said Khaled Al Khaja, the appeal's executive director.
Last year, Dh18.1m was distributed among thousands of people to kick-start businesses to care for their families and Dh7.9m was spent on providing more than 300,000 families with food.
"We need your help to spread the word because good is present inside all of us," Mr Al Khaja said.

He recalled printing leaflets in Urdu while promoting a campaign to aid Palestinians living in Gaza.

“I remember that a Hindu man came personally to our offices and on the spot donated Dh20,000.

“Others will do the same, we just need to get the message to them.”