Sharing is Caring 2019 - KAUST Community Supports Campaign in its 4th Year

Sharing is Caring is an annual Social Responsibility program that enables the KAUST community to give back to its neighbors in the spirit of the season of Ramadan, and comprises two elements – Ramadan Food Pantry and Eid Gifts.

This year’s Sharing is Caring Food Pantry assembly took place in a new venue – the Community Hub in Discovery Square.  Over 3 1/2 hours, 128 volunteers constructed and filled 200 boxes in a smooth-running assembly line that would have impressed Henry Ford himself.  Each food hamper contained a range of 29 healthy, seasonal food items, to assist families in planning their Ramadan menus.  

The event was kick-started by the early arrival of KAUST School teacher Caitlin McQuaid and her team of dynamic and dedicated Grade 5 students.  The kids got to work distributing food stuffs to packing stations so that when the first wave of volunteers arrived for their session at 4pm, they could begin promptly.  With volunteers arriving at hourly intervals for their pre-arranged slots, the project was completed smoothly and efficiently.

To accompany the food hampers, volunteers were given the opportunity to write Ramadan greetings cards to their neighbors in Thuwal, with each card displayed on a giant, illuminated fanooos that lit up Discovery Square for the evening.

The greetings cards and hampers, together with boxes of fresh, vacuum-packed meat, were distributed to families in Thuwal, with the assistance of The Thuwal Albir Society – a total of 1300 Ramadan food boxes were dispatched.  At the hamper collection venue, Thuwal community members wrote their own greetings cards for KAUST – these will soon be displayed in the Ramadan Lounge in Harbor Walk.

This is the fourth year Social Responsibility has organized Sharing is Caring, enabling the KAUST community to contribute their time and energy for their host community at this important time of year.  Each year we welcome feedback from our volunteers to improve their experience.  Our feedback from 2018 included: provide more information for volunteers on the packing process; smoother stocking of the packing stations: and, the numbers of boxes to be packed to be spread out more evenly across the event for volunteers.  Incorporating this feedback, together with the new venue, and the boundless enthusiasm of the volunteers, led to a great, productive afternoon and evening.  We are encouraged by the level of support to increase the number of boxes prepared by KAUST volunteers next year.

The Eid Gifts of games and exercise equipment were selected with the theme of Your Own Home Gym, to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle.  Each year, we work with the Albir Society to ensure that gifts are given to orphaned families in the community, as part of the University’s social and educational support of the most vulnerable members of our host community.  We delivered 108 items to 47 beneficiaries with the invaluable support of our sponsor SMSA.

Sharing is Caring can only be completed with the significant support received from volunteers in the community, our partners, vendors and sponsors.  Sponsors that gave some or all of their services free of charge this year were SMSA, Jeddah Store and Helmy Alsagaff Photography.  Vendors Sarawat and KAUST partners Procurement, Campus Support, Community Life and Marcom all worked seamlessly to enable a successful outcome.

We look forward to welcoming returning and new volunteers next year - to ensure you hear about Sharing is Caring 2020, and all other volunteer opportunities, please visit the KAUST Volunteer Program website.

  

Part of our Community Al-Jar Program - read the Program Overview here.

May 29, 2019