A major campaign urging people to donate toys and clothes to help 20,000 needy Bahraini children has been launched in Bahrain.

The Make a Child Happy Campaign, spearheaded by the Muqabah Charitable Society for 15 years, was launched yesterday to mark the beginning of Ramadan, said a report in the Gulf daily news, our sister publication.

Nine main collection boxes have been set up at supermarkets and shopping centres across the country, and donations will be distributed 10 days before Eid Al Fitr.

Society board president Ali Alzaki said expatriates were major contributors to the success of the scheme.

"At the beginning and in our first three years, we were operating on a small scale within our community off the Budaiya Highway," he said.

"But, one expatriate woman made the difference and took the scheme to greater heights by forming collection teams across the country within the expatriate community.

"Today, we have a wide network of volunteers in different places, who I want to thank personally for spending time and energy to make children listed under the campaign happy.

"Hopefully, we could meet our target of bringing smiles across the faces of 20,000 children waiting to celebrate Eid Al Fitr."

Alzaki said plans were also in place to fast-track the collection process by co-operating with Bahrain City Centre, which also gathers donations throughout Ramadan.

"There is no competition in charity and we spoke with the mall's management last year and there is interest in co-operation. We help them with manpower and they give us a percentage of the donations," he said. – TradeArabia News Service