Members of Hifz Al Naema team repackaging surplus foods collected from the visitors of sealine.
Hifz Al Naema, a Qatari food saving social organisation has distributed 468,581 cooked meals collected from surplus foods to needy people including single workers and families in the country in 2018.
Hifz Al Naema which means saving the blessings is a social center that collects surplus food from festivals, weddings and hotels and distributes it after repackaging to poor people.
A total of 242,649 workers and 33,668 families received the meals last year, the Center has tweeted. The Center received 468,581 cooked meals. The philanthropists also gave 176.8 tonnes of fruits and vegetables, over eight tonnes of meat, 1.7 tonnes of chicken, 4.7 tonnes of sugar and 4.5 tonnes of rice. Hifz Al Naema also received in-kind donations and distributed to poor people. In-kind donations included 2,027 carpets, 2,599 pieces of furniture, 674 electronic devices, 14,383 pieces of clothes in 2,988 bags.
A total of 280,042 people benefited from the activities organised by the Center and the number of the beneficiaries of seasonal projects reached 216,458. A total of 426 students benefited from the awareness programmes on food saving organised by Hifz Al Naema in schools. The Center also provided financial and in-kind supports to 299 and 185 cases respectively. A total of 2,815 poor families got food baskets.
Under seasonal projects, the Center distributed 458 sacrificial animals on the occasion of Eid Al Adha. Over 15,000 families received Iftar meals, 1,000 families food baskets for holy month of Ramadan. Over 200,000 fasting people benefited from Iftar programmes organised by Hifz Al Naema.
“We are a generous society and our generosity shows most at our festivity where our food always exceed which goes ultimately to the dust bins,” said an official from the Center.
He said that food is a blessing and blessing should not be taken for granted, therefore, in 2008 Hifz Al Naema programme was established as first food bank in Qatar.
“From that year onward we started collecting surplus food from fest, wedding and hotels even no-perishable foods like rice, edible oil, sugar,” he added.
“The Center collects, sorts and repackages the surplus food then distributes to people in need. “We received great support from the community encouraged to develop the idea,” he said.
He said that the Center established charity store to distribute surpluses from clothing, furniture, electronic devices and any other appliances.
Hifz Al Naema has set up a make shifting ten at Al Enna, a tourism development project near Sealine beach. A team is available from Thursday to Saturday from 6pm to 12 midnight to collect surplus foods from the visitors and neighbouring campers.
