DOHA - The Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has raised QR25,000 in two weeks through its novel project launched last month allowing people to donate coins in the form of charity coupons at major shopping outlets in the country.
The project allows customers to receive coupons of Dirhams 50 and 25 at the billing counters, if they are supposed to get coins worth the same amount, after the purchases.
"Instead of receiving coins or the small things that the shopping centres offer, a customer, if he or she wishes, can ask for a charity coupon issued by QRC. When put together, these small amounts can become a major charitable venture," explained Ahmed Taha, head of financial resource development department at QRC, in remarks to The Peninsula yesterday. The project was launched on July 27 and the response so far was encouraging, he added.
"There will not be any compulsion on the customers to accept a charity coupon. It is totally their decision whether to ask for one," said Taha. The money raised from the project will be used to support QRC's charitable projects inside Qatar, he added.
QRC has already distributed coupons to all leading shopping outlets in the city, such as Carrefour, Lulu Hypermarket, Family Food Centre, Al Meera, Safari Hypermarket, among others.
"What is more encouraging is that many small supermarkets in Doha have also come forward to support the project. They have started collecting coupons from QRC and keep in their billing counters," said Taha.
Enquiries with some hypermarkets in Doha yesterday revealed that most of the people were still not aware of the specific objective of the project.
"Only few customers are asking for the coupons as an alternative for the coins. Many are buying them in large numbers just to donate to the QRC. There is a need to create more awareness in this regard," said official of a leading hypermarket. He noted that such coupons have proved very successful in several western countries.
By Staff Reporter
© The Peninsula 2006
