Thousands of orphans from all regions of Saudi Arabia this week took part in holiday celebrations sponsored by Saudi Aramco and supported by thousands of Aramco employees, Jeddah-based Arab News reported.
During Ramadan, Saudi Aramco employees and contractors purchased toys and gifts for children, which were collected at company facilities around the Kingdom. The toys and gifts were distributed to orphans during Eid festivals in Dhahran, Jeddah and Riyadh.
In Dhahran, the company’s Transportation Department provided 30 buses to shuttle orphaned boys and girls from Qateef, Al-Hasa, Umm El-Sahik, Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, Saihat, Dammam and Al-Khobar. The 976 children, aged between 5 and 20, spent a day at especially prepared sites and enjoyed a variety of activities, including contests, games, music and sports demonstrations. They were also provided with snacks and party foods.
In the Eastern Province, seventy people volunteered their services to help to make the day special and fun-filled. Approximately half of those were Saudi Aramco volunteers who gave up part of their holiday to bring to the children the goodwill of people who work for Saudi Aramco worldwide. Other volunteers were drawn from the local community, including 20 Boy Scouts.
Before distributing the gifts, local football stars including Khaleel Zayani, Omer Muhanna, Saleh Khalifah, Omer Bakhishwain, Sameer Helal, Fuad Mugahway, Yaser Al-Qahtani, Yusri Al-Basha and Sami Jasem played a football match with the orphans.
At the close of the Eid celebration, a team from Saudi Aramco executive management, led by president and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah S. Juma, distributed gifts on behalf of the company’s employees.
“Saudi Aramco does not do this for publicity,” Juma told dignitaries gathered at the Eid celebration. “We do this to give back to our society. I am pleased to see these youngsters playing happily. I hope that this event inspires more people to volunteer their time to help these wonderful children. These orphans are our sons and daughters; and they really appreciate the interest in them that our employees have demonstrated.”
Saudi Aramco management would like to acknowledge donations to the Orphans’ Eid Celebration of 1,000 gifts from Petrolube, Giftmart and the Gulf Chapter of the Project Management Institute. Of 14,000 gifts collected from Saudi Aramco employees and others, around 4,000 were distributed to children at the Saudi Aramco orphans’ events. The remaining presents were sent to charitable organizations for distribution to orphans who were unable to attend the parties.
Source: SPA
