Dubai Culture boosts culture of giving with ‘Ramadan Heroes’ campaign

As part of its humanitarian community initiatives targeting basic services employees in the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), in cooperation with its partners, Dar Al-Bir, Dubai Internet City, Dubai Industrial City, Talabat, and Art for Good Group, launched the ‘Ramadan Heroes’ campaign to delight, honour, and convey feelings of appreciation to these employees for their services as well as create a state of cohesion between them and members of society considering especially during the current circumstances. The initiative aims to encourage the community to contribute to providing iftar meals to be distributed to TECOM’s labour camps in Dubai during the holy month of Ramadan.

Smart services are manifested in all aspects of life that Dubai is witnessing, using this trend, Dubai Culture partnered with Talabat to create a virtual restaurant to allow community members to send Ramadan meals to workers safely and with minimum friction among participants in the initiative, in line with national preventive measures that aim to limit the spread of COVID-19. Those looking to take part may do so by downloading the Talabat application, selecting Ramadan Heroes, and then following the outlined steps to contribute the desired number of iftar or suhoor meals.

The initiative is also supported by the TECOM Group, which will grant entry to its workers’ residence areas, in addition to communicating with the network of restaurants registered to participate in the initiative. Dubai Culture also commissioned artists within the ‘Art for Good Group’ to develop the artwork of the marketing campaigns as a message of love and support from the creators to all members of society.

This initiative comes in support of the ‘10 Million Meals’ campaign that was launched under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and sponsored by Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and chairperson of UAE Food Bank Board of Trustees, the largest national community campaign of its kind to provide meals and food parcels to support needy families and individuals across the Emirates.

Hala Badri, Director General of Dubai Culture, said: “With the advent of the holy month and its values of compassion during these extraordinary times we are all experiencing and in the absence of free Ramadan tents, we seek through this campaign to perpetuate the culture of giving, forming an important part of our identity and cultural responsibility, by providing iftar meals to individuals in need in a streamlined manner for contributors and safely and comfortably for recipients, as per His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who said: “A person can’t feel contented except when he begins to give.”

Badri added: “This campaign comes within the framework of our social mission as a cultural body that seeks to promote the values ​​of tolerance, coexistence, and societal cohesion to reflect the main image of Dubai, a city in which all people are treated equally and fairly. The initiative will contribute to enhancing the feeling of safety, stability, and protection for members of this segment of society, in line with Dubai Culture’s commitment to play an active role that contributes to achieving one of the goals of Dubai Plan 2021 to make the Emirate a home for empowered individuals, confident of their future, full of pride and happiness in their cultural heritage.”

This initiative is complemented by the ‘Summer Heroes’ campaign, whose first phase was launched by Dubai Culture in July 2019, followed by the second stage in November with the aim of enhancing human connections between individuals of different nationalities and cultures, conveying feelings of appreciation to the workers for their contributions to the process of building and development in the Emirate of Dubai. The second stage was based on a creative idea represented in artistic paintings on water refrigerators and distributing them to labour camps in the Dubai Industrial Area that supplied workers with free cold water.