For Kelly Harvarde, the month of Ramadan is one when she gets to give back to the city she has called home for over 15 years. Even though she is not Muslim, the British expat has continued to feed hundreds for several years. On Monday, she was back at the Majid Ahmad AlGhurair Masjid in Satwa to continue her mission.
“Ramadan transcends religion for us,” she said, while handing out packets of food to over 600 people on the first day of the holy month. “People of all backgrounds, nationalities and cultures come together each year to give back to the community. I truly believe that anyone can make a difference in their community. You do not need to be a billionaire philanthropist for that. We are a group of ordinary people, friends and neighbours who came together and as a group, we can do great things.”
Kelly is spearheading the program to feed those coming to the mosque for the third year running and is hoping to reach 1500 people every day. “We aim to feed 45,000 people over the month, which is an ambitious target, but one we know we can meet with help from our wonderful community of supporters here in Dubai,” she said.
The initiative
Every day, several volunteers join Kelly at the mosque in Satwa to help her. “We brief everyone on the process, where the food is placed, how the lines of people flow, how we replenish and tidy and keep going,” she said. “We set up the food stations for hot meals, fruit and water. Together we unload the food truck and set up the meals and fruit packs and then we distribute the meals.”
She admits that managing the whole thing is sometimes difficult but worth it. “It’s a logistical challenging to manage the volunteers, the meals and the people we serve,” she said. “This is our third year so we have the organisation down to a fine art and everyone works together so beautifully.”
The initiative is the best part about Kelly’s entire year. “We remember to greet each and every person who comes for a meal with a smile,” she said. “We say Ramadan Kareem. We look people in the eye and say thank you. We connect. The mosque is alive with a community in service. It rings with different languages, different voices, as we all work together with one aim- to share love and joy at this incredible time of year. It’s the most beautiful part of our day, our week, our year.”
Starting at home
For Kelly, her endeavour to feed people began several years ago. “We used to run a wonderful and very successful Ramadan Fridge from our family villa in Jumeriah, managing to feed over one thousand people each night,” she said. At the time, she along with a group of helpers would spend hours packing iftar kits which were then distributed among the community.
On some days, she had hundreds of people lining up outside her villa while on other days, volunteers handed them out to fasting people in their cars. “We could only do it with the help of our wonderful friends, neighbours and the public,” she said. “Every time we ran out of food, we prayed for help and help came in the form of countless friends and strangers.
It was after the fridges’ initiative stopped during COVID and weren’t reinstated, that she moved to iftar distribution at the mosque. For her, she loves everything that Ramadan represents. “It is a month to reflect on everything you have,” she said. “To remember that not everyone is so lucky. To be kind, do good deeds and help the community around you. What is not to love about it?”