ABU DHABI // Female freshmen at the Petroleum Institute collected 1,885 kilograms of clothing to be donated to charity with the cooperation of the Emirates Red Crescent.
The Academic Bridge Programme collected boxes of new and used clothes last week.
Erin Rice, a lecturer in English for the programme, said she had participated in similar charity initiatives in her home town in the US but this was a first at the female PI campus.
“I introduced it to my class and they became really excited by it. So, the enthusiasm grew, and it’s good to do anything charitable,” she said.
The donation period was three days long.
“I sent out an email to teachers to see if their students would be interested in doing it for a prize in a class competition,” Ms Rice said.
“Nine classes volunteered and they had to write a paragraph to persuade their friends to donate to their class efforts.”
The winning class collected 385 kg of used clothing from friends and family members, said Alya Salem, 18.
Another student, Amani Al Jneibi, 18, said the students were happy to collect the goods, and “did it from their hearts”.
“We put up fliers around the campus and told the girls in the campus and outside. We told them all of you can donate and they were happy to do it,” she said.
A representative from the Red Crescent, Muayed Al Ahbabi, said he was impressed with the result.
“In this campaign the girls had generously raised and donated clothes that will help many people. The campaign will first be in the balance of their good deeds, and it will be the doorway for many more similar initiatives,” he said.
“This campaign is unprecedented because of how much they were able to collect in a short period of time. This will ingrain the values of giving and cooperation in them”.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
