Muvi Cinemas, the first home-grown cinema brand in the Kingdom, held a corporate social responsibility event at its flagship multiplex in Mall of Arabia, to donate 200 laptops to local orphans and underprivileged students currently undergoing distance learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was organized in partnership with the Jeddah-based women’s charity Al-Oula — whose goal is to provide 2,000 laptops to local low-income students over the course of the pandemic. With the activation, Muvi Cinemas aimed to minimize the perils of the digital divide in the age of online education, where underprivileged children are at particular risk of falling behind in their classwork or worse, withdrawing from school altogether.
“Recent studies have shown that 60 percent of low-income students could lose up to a year of schooling due to the lack of access to proper technology,” said Mahmoud Mirza, marketing director at Muvi Cinemas.
“Al-Oula, which has an incredible tradition of helping children maximize their academic potential, was keen on setting an ambitious goal of donating thousands of laptop computers to area children. Muvi Cinemas was delighted to participate in this effort with a gift of 200 devices, to help local students and families cope better with the unforeseen shift to online learning wrought by COVID-19. We strongly encourage other businesses, charities, and citizens in the region to partake in Al-Oula’s laptop donation initiative at this critical time.”
Eighty children received their new laptops at the event and enjoyed a complimentary screening of a family-friendly movie. An additional 120 children will have their devices delivered to their residences.
“Muvi’s donation means that we’re not only a cinema, but also an active member of the communities in which we operate. The laptop activation is a milestone for our CSR goals this year as we expand steadily across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” added Mirza.
