Students in UAE raise funds for charity by unleashing creativity

The fundraisers at their stall during the third edition of The Young Philanthropists Award (Copyrighted photo of Khaleej Times).

Inspired by the values of philanthropy and compassion in the Year of Zayed, six children aged 7 to 12  decided to use their creativity to raise money for a good cause. Friends Arham Zaman (7), Mir Faraz (7), Rayyan Zaman (8), Aditi Gandhi (10), Mishal Faraz (11) and Aaditya Gandhi (12) joined hands to contribute, in their own small way, towards those who are underprivileged. 

The students decided to raise funds by selling something they created themselves by taking part in the third edition of The Young Philanthropists Award.

They decided to collect old glass bottles by going around the neighbourhood and then decorate them and sell them. The idea was to give old glass bottles,  a new life in the form of colourful and vibrant pieces of art, which can be used as flower vases, pen holders, cutlery stands and so on.

Explaining the idea, Mishal Faraz said: "By using a recyclable item we also paid tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who ardently believed in environment protection and sustainable growth. Our planet with finite resources are already getting depleted at an alarming rate. Every person should aim to recycle and reuse. The longer we prolong the lifespan of an item, the longer we keep it away from landfills." 

Elaborating further, Aaditya Gandhi said: "Despite being completely recyclable, glass is one of the most ignored recyclable items. A study conducted showed the dismal fact that every month the world throws away just enough glass bottles to fill up a humongous skyscraper! This worrisome fact strengthened our resolve to spread awareness about recycling and reusing glass items."

Mir said: "For almost four months, we made weekly trips around our neighbourhoods asking people to give us their old, empty glass bottles."

Talking of the day they finally sold the bottles, Aditi said: "In the end, we made 160 bottles. We chose to sell them at our school annual fun fair. To our delight, we sold all of them by the end of the day and the money was donated to Dubai Cares."

While for Rayyan and Arham this was a first of its kind experience, Aaditya, Mishal, Aditi and Mir are regular participants in the humanitarian initiatives rolled out by Dubai Cares and Emirates Red Crescent.

Copyrighted. Khaleej Times 

Written by Saman Haziq 

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