By Abdullah Al-Jamili
We have many Saudi philanthropists. This proves that our society attaches great importance to charity work, even though some media outlets try to depict the Kingdom negatively.
Recently, the Khobar-based Gulf Girl Society launched a positive initiative with the collaboration of local municipality officials. The society honored 100 street cleaners. It was a great and kind gesture. After all, street cleaners deserve it because they are loyal and honest when it comes to work. Sometimes cleaning companies do not pay them their salaries on time. Nevertheless, the cleaners honor their contracts. I suggest that a society for street cleaners should be set up to help these poor workers and protect their rights.
We have great examples of charitable societies in our country and we can benefit from their experience and follow in their footsteps when we establish a society for street cleaners. We have the Orphan Welfare Society in Al-Madinah that has recently won the Prince Miqrin Bin Abdulaziz Corporate Social Responsibility Award. The society takes care of over 12,500 orphans in Al-Madinah and provides them with all types medical, entertainment, education and financial services. It has set a great example of how charitable organizations should operate. It offers training programs to all orphans. We also have the Down Syndrome Society that exerts great effort to take care of children suffering from Down syndrome.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs should facilitate the work of all charitable societies, as this would help these societies achieve the objectives of their mission and serve all segments of our society.
