Shaily Kalra

Dubai: The holy month of Ramadan is inspiring people to go beyond and help the needy with food and clothing and they are rallying around the project – The Preservation of Grace – launched by Shaikha Shamsa Bint Hamadan Al Nahayan, Assistant President of ERC for women’s affairs.

The purpose of the Preservation of Grace project is to help the poor by providing them food when they break their fast. Under this project, teams trained to carry the well packed food items from restaurants and homes fan out to meet the objective.

As this is the month of Ramadan, undoubtedly food is cooked in a large quantities and much of it also goes waste. Hence the idea of the project is to make best use of the food by distributing it to the poor.

The followers of Islam often quote: “It is He Who has brought into being gardens – the trellised and untrellised – and the palm trees, and crops, all varying in taste, and.the olive and pomegranates, all resembling one another and yet so different. Eat of their fruits when they come to fruition and pay His due on the day of harvesting. And do not exceed the proper limits, for He does not love those who exceed the proper limits.” [Quran 6:141]

That means the food should not be wasted but it should be served to a person in need.

Preservation of Grace project encourages motorists to slow down at the time of prayers so that the volunteers can go to them to collect and distribute iftar meals to the needy.

The message of this project is spreading among different communities. People in Abu Dhabi have started keeping food items in the fridge which is then kept in garages and lawns so that it becomes easy for the needy passerby to get a handful of food.