For a Friday afternoon in Al Qusais, the parking lot of the Philippines Consulate was unusually packed. The crowd at the consulate was a heartening sight — hundreds disembarked from cars and taxis, with containers of relief goods.
Families gathered and waited in queue for their turn to enter the premises, having carried with them clothes, food and medicines in bags and boxes, all to be shipped to the areas worst hit by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
At one gate, there were donations taking place and repackaging of the donations, in larger cartons, getting ready for shipment, while on the other side, there was another gathering of supporters who had come for the Dh50-per-head brunch, proceeds of which would be used as aid.
To help their people, the Filipino community had decided to keep Friday as the day to accept donations. Simultaneously and at the same venue, there was the scheduled ‘Brunch For A Cause’ from 11am to 4pm. It’s a different matter that food ran out, but people came in anyway. And they paid the Dh50 per person even when food was unavailable, knowing that proceeds will go to the typhoon victims.
One of the nearly twenty sponsors was Adlina Hafez, whose company Magic Solutions provided the karaoke units for the singing session that took place. Hafez said of the huge turnout at the event, “We underestimated the capacity of support… but people didn’t come for the food.”
At the donation side of the consulate, one of the more poignant images was that of the volunteers, working together in a chain, repacking items, passing contents from one to another, welding large rolls of brown adhesive tape, sealing and labeling boxes. Just some names on labels of boxes read: From Aachirodon Construction, From Rixos, The Palm, Dubai, From Café Aroma. – Khleejtimes
