‘Hand by Hand’ draws smiles while donating to the needy

Hand by Hand is a non-profit group consisting of 9 young Saudi women whose mission it is to spread happiness in society.
Since 2011, the group has been doing a lot of charity work, either individually or in collaboration with other charity committees. Their recent campaign entitled “Charitable Match” was inspired by Shuaib Rashed, a famous Kuwaiti Instagrammer who had started a similar campaign in Kuwait. The campaign encourages people to donate old clothes to the needy.
“We found our voice by working on our own and not with other organizations,” said Latifa Suwaigh, spokesperson of Hand By Hand. “We don’t belong to any charity committee and neither are we sponsored by any financial party. Our main goal is to draw a smile regardless of the financial status,” she said.
“We started in August 2011,” said Ghaida Askar, a group member. “At first we were worried about how we would be received but nobody questioned our identity and things worked very smoothly,” she said.
“We visited many places to provide our services such as the Dammam Specialist Hospital, The Home for the Aged, orphanages, and even the streets where we offered free breakfast for the laborers working in the heat. When we visit the same place again and people whose day we had brightened up remember us by name, we feel we have been rewarded,” Ghaida said.
Commenting on the “Charitable Match” campaign, Latifa said: “The campaign was inspired by Shuaib, who gave us permission to go ahead and execute it. We announced the campaign on social media sites, and people responded instantly. They wanted to know where they could send the clothes even before we announced the location.”
“We were lucky to be offered a free location, the ‘Burger Corner’ in Dammam where we could gather with the contributors. I’m optimistic that the campaign will achieve its goals to shine a light on the needy who are suffering in the cold weather this winter,” said Latifa.
“We receive many enquiries from people via social media sites asking about how to start charity work. We always encourage them to start their own and not join us because it is better to have small groups doing good acts repetitively for the community, rather than one big group working alone,” said Latifa. “However, we will always support anyone who needs help. The feeling of satisfaction of contributing to the community after the completion of a project is indescribable. People should know that money is not the only thing they can donate; a smile or a few encouraging words can be all that someone needs.”