“Hunger is the single biggest solvable problem facing the world today.” (United Nations (UN) World Food Program) According to the UN, one person dies every 4 seconds as a consequence of hunger. Hence, Charity Right has taken the initiative to eradicate food poverty. They aim to reduce the struggle of people who are deprived of nutritious meals and often have no meal at all. Hiba got in touch with them to learn more about their work.
Who is behind this prolific initiative? Who is the managing body of this organization?
Charity Right has been globally running in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, and Sudan – countries already known for their immense poverty. This Ramadan, Mercy Mission Pakistan in collaboration with Al Madinah Islamic Research Center (MIRC) launched Charity Right in Pakistan. The aim of the global Ramadan campaign was to pledge to provide ration packs to deserving families not just in the month of Ramadan but for the whole year. For Pakistan, the goal was to give 500 families monthly ration packs for the year.
Can you tell more about the people managing Charity Right?
Al Madinah Islamic Research Center (MIRC) with ten of its Mashayikh (teachers), who are graduates of University of Madinah, and Mercy Mission team members are working as one team to manage each part of the operation. For many years, MIRC had been giving out ration packs in the month of Ramadan as had the individuals in Mercy Mission Pakistan team, hence, we all decided to team up and work together for this noble cause.
We have a dedicated field team who are rigorously conducting home surveys to ensure that we get genuine households that fit our criteria on the distribution panel. Some team members are managing the finances/accounts and the actual distribution mechanism of the ration bags, while others are involved in marketing the campaign through online and personal contacts.
What is the vision of this organization?
Getting communities back on their feet – into education, work and trade! Charity Right, a project of Mercy Mission Worldwide, is a not-for-profit organization providing food for the chronically hungry people in some of the most hard-to-reach areas across the world with the sole objective to overcome hunger, starvation, and its effects.
Who is your target audience?
For marketing the campaign, we are targeting people who are looking to put their share in helping to feed a family for a whole year. We used personal contacts to help spread the word, and deployed volunteers to help take forms to their family and friends. We also targeted people living abroad, who are looking for a credible organization to handle their charity money. Pakistanis living abroad were the biggest source of motivation in our fundraising. Not only did people donate, they also became our agents for spreading the word in their communities. Our active team members put up stalls in shopping malls and mosques to build awareness for the project.
We are providing food packs to people in the poor areas of Karachi and some districts of Thar. Our criteria are clear: we are focusing on widows, who have no earning member for the family, the elderly, who have no one to fend for them, and orphans, who have no guardians. Based on these criteria, we have surveyed over 300 families to ensure that we are providing to genuine people. Our survey team is working tirelessly until we reach our goal. Insha’Allah.
Can you tell us the approximate number of people responding to your efforts?
Alhumdulillah, in a few weeks, we have been able to collect pledges amounting to 60% of our target, which has enabled us to propel this project towards action. We need to continue fundraising to ensure that we meet our target and can continue this project in the long run. Insha’Allah.
If someone would like to join the team and bring in new ideas regarding how we can market this project to food brands and restaurants, you are welcome to write to us at pk@charityright.com
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