Sheikh Mohamed pose for photographs at the centre in Abu Dhabi.

Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporter

The UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan along with his his children and grandchildren visited the Emirates Red Crescent centre (ERC) packing relief materials for the quake victims of Turkey and Syria under 'Bridges of Goodness' campaign.

Meanwhile, as part of the ‘Bridges of Goodness’ campaign, some 1,200 volunteers from the ERC, in collaboration with the ERC employees, packaged 9,000 relief boxes at the ‘Mubadala Arena’ headquarters in Abu Dhabi for those affected by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey.

“We were honoured by the presence of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as his children and grandchildren, who took part in packaging food parcel and writing words to raise the morale of the Syrian and Turkish recipients,” Rashid Mubarak Al Mansouri, Deputy Secretary General of Local Affairs Sector at ERC, said.

He added that Sheikh Mohamed’s visit surely raised the volunteers’ spirit and increased their activity.

The campaign is continuing to exert its relief efforts, especially with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, he said, adding that the campaign co-ordinated with some Arab countries to purchase foodstuffs and to run ships from the UAE to Syria to supply the affected people with foodstuffs and meet their Ramadan needs.

As many as 5,000 tonnes of relief aid were already handed over to the affected people, he said, adding that some 12,000 volunteers were currently packaging 9,000 parcels of foodstuffs, medical aid and other needs such as clothes.

Answering a question about the ERC’s preparations to implement the 'Iftar Saem' programme, Al Mansouri affirmed that benefactors would be able to help the ERC pitch Iftar tents for fasting people, noting that the cost of setting up an Iftar tent in Abu Dhabi is Dhs70,000 compared to Dhs55,000 in other Emirates.

Each tent would accommodate 100 fasting people a day over a period of 30 days, he said, adding that the cost of setting up a tent covers all needed fittings, licenses, supervisors and meals.

He pointed out that the ERC launched a tender for setting up Iftar tents and is now in the process of opening the bids to decide on the groups that would co-operate with it to set up tents and implement the 'Iftar Saem' programme.