RAK Ruler launches initiative to support UAE Food Bank

His Highness Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, launched on Thursday the Cooperation and Partnership Initiative in support of the UAE Food Bank, a non-profit charitable organisation committed to distributing food to those in need while eliminating food waste.

Shaikh Saud also instructed the emirate’s government entities to support the food bank, launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to mark his accession day on January 4.

Dr Abdul Latif Khalifa, secretary-general of the emirate’s Executive Council, said Shaikh Saud directed Ras Al Khaimah Municipality and Tourism Development Authority to take necessary preparatory measures to coordinate and communicate with the subsidiaries, including hotels and food, hospitality and catering companies, to support the UAE Food Bank initiative, which is in tune with the declaration of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to observe 2017 as the ‘Year of Giving’.

Shaikh Saud also instructed the emirate’s Department of Works and Public Services to explore ways to cooperate with the UAE Food Bank in areas such as handling, packaging and distribution of surplus food within the framework of sustainable development, Dr Khalifa said.

“This process will help reduce food waste and support related economic and industrial activities,” he added.

Dr Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), has hailed the spirit of philanthropy displayed by the UAE’s leadership.

In a statement issued on Thursday, she praised the pursuit of charity work under the leadership Shaikh Khalifa; Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid; His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; and Their Highnesses Rulers of the Emirates.

The statement, which marked the launch of the UAE Food Bank initiative by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid, said it will reinforce the values of generosity and giving, a tradition inherited from the nation’s ancestors in the UAE.

Shaikh Mohammad dedicated his accession day on January 4 to launch the UAE Food Bank, a non-profit charitable organisation committed to distributing food to those in need while eliminating food waste.

“We realise the immense importance of the humanitarian initiative undertaken in the form of the UAE Food Bank, particularly as one billion people around the world live in extreme poverty,” the FNC Speaker said.

Dr Al Qubaisi said January 4 has become a day of special initiatives, with Shaikh Mohammed highlighting the UAE’s glorious traditions of philanthropy.

The UAE Food Bank initiative, which marked the beginning of 2017, denotes such a generous gesture.

She said the world is currently facing many conflicts, challenges and crises. The UAE Food Bank initiative is all the more important since poverty and famine have emerged as extremely grave issues that require collective efforts to redress them.

source: GULF NEWS