The Largest Volunteer Activity in the Eastern Province: KFUPM Organizes the 12th Volunteer Festival

On Saturday February 8, 2020, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) organized the 12th Volunteer Festival, the largest voluntary activity in the Eastern Province. It serves KFUPM mission, which aims to serve the community through various voluntary programs attended by students and KFUPM community. The activity targeted many health & environmental sectors, elderly home, correctional centers and traffic safety.

Dr. Muhammad Al- Saggaf, KFUPM President, emphasized the importance of volunteering, noting that it is a religious as well as a social and humanitarian duty. Volunteering may provide a religious and psychological satisfaction for volunteers. It, also, serves the student from a personal point of view, as many international companies and universities consider volunteering as important aspect when comparing applicants. Therefore, it should be an ongoing process throughout the year.

Dr. Al-Saqqaf noted the importance of volunteering in strengthening the ties between KFUPM and the society which is in line with the Saudi Vision2030, which emphasizes on volunteering in the areas of development.

KFUPM will seek, through the independence granted to it, to create a qualitative shift in the Kingdom's economy, and participate actively in the transformation to a digital and knowledge economy to compete effectively in the global economy. This shift represents a major challenge for the university, but it will pass it through the efforts of its professors, researchers and students.

For his part, the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Al-Ojairi said, we are witnessing today a form of beauty given to the society. This valued gift represented more than (11) thousand hours of volunteer work in an attempt to make a difference and positive impact in society.

Volunteer work may represented as wiping at the head of an orphan, giving pleasure to an old man in a social care home, decorating the city with wall paintings to reduce visual pollution, planting trees on highways and beaches in an attempt to reduce desertification, providing courses for high school students and many other activities.

The activity consisted of (11) voluntary programs, in which 31 projects were implemented, such as maintenance of public facilities like mosques, the "Shokran" (Thank you) initiative for the workers, "Alam" (Science) initiative, “Elham” (Inspiration) initiative, "Smells Like Old Times" program for visiting patients and the elderly, as well as Takaful program.