Shoppers asked to 'make a difference'

Four of the UAE's largest malls are encouraging shoppers to donate unwanted possessions to charity.

ABU DHABI // Four of the country's largest malls are encouraging shoppers to donate unwanted possessions to charity. The Mall of the Emirates, Deira City Centre, Sharjah City Centre and Ajman City Centre have each set up large transparent plastic boxes to collect the donations throughout the month. Visitors will be able to donate everything from used eyeglasses or sunglasses to clothes, mobile phones and books as part of the campaign entitled "Make a Difference This Ramadan". The goods will be distributed to the UAE Red Crescent Society, Al Ihsan Medical Complex and EnviroFone.

Al Ihsan Medical Complex is a UAE-based organisation that offers free medical care and services, while EnviroFone facilitates the refurbishment of old phones that are donated to people in African countries and disposes of broken phones in an environmentally safe manner. For every phone it receives, EnviroFone donates Dh5 to the Gulf for Good Foundation. The Red Crescent takes part in many charitable activities. During Ramadan, it will be serving iftar, free of charge, in tents across the country.

Fareed AbdelRahman, divisional asset manager for Majid al Futaim, which owns all the malls, said: "This campaign was introduced at our four shopping malls in the UAE last year and we received an incredible response from visitors. Many of us have unwanted goods in our homes but don't know where to take them. "We decided to put these boxes in the malls because people go there anyway to shop so they can take part in the giving spirit of Ramadan at the same time."

The malls will be thanking people who take part by giving them discount coupons for products similar to the ones they donate. [e-mail]