“Revive humanity, regardless of race, gender, age, capabilities or religion”: that is the vision Saeed Azhar chose for his initiative which helps thousands of people around Saudi Arabia.
Philanthropy is very common in Saudi Arabia, not only for the fact that it is one of most important pillars of Ramadan, but also in an embedded common practice in everyday society.
“The Saudi government had sent me to the US on a scholarship for my college education and higher studies,” said Azhar, who had started Joy of Youth almost a decade ago, “They gave me the opportunity to study abroad and grow. I just wanted to give back and that’s how Joy of Youth was born.”
During Ramadan, they have started the initiative of visiting more than 40 neighbourhoods around the kingdom to distribute iftar meals, specifically 50,000 this holy month.
Makkah and Madinah the iftar meals were distributed every day, and the rest of Saudi Arabia during the weekends. The activities don’t stop in Saudi Arabia as the regional vision is to cover all the kingdom's cities, along with GCC countries.
“We have also worked with Jeddah Municipality, Makkah Municipality, Sadafco, Aramco, McDonald's, Unilever, P&G, Haval, Ministry of Health, Toys R Us and many others,” Azhar explained more about the partnerships that Joy of Youth has accumulated over the years.
The amazing thing about this initiative is that it is not only rewarding for the receives of this charity, but also the people volunteering and helping.
Many volunteers spoke to an online news outlet, The National, about how this experience has shaped them, starting with Razan Ahmed, a volunteer from Jeddah: “This helps build character and instil the core Islamic values at a young age and helps children understand. They need to know that when they grow up, they have to continue doing this family members.”
Another volunteer, Aamir Alim, talked about the importance of volunteering for self-fulfillment as well, “humanity lies in the voluntary participation of everything that benefits people, society and the environment, and in Joy of Youth we target people and strive to help them. We find joy in making people happy,” he said.
