PESHAWAR:King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief)distributed winter packages in Khyberdistrict,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, bringing aid to the poorest families in the region amid the worst cold spell in decades, a local official said.
The district’s Zakat chairmanIhsan Ullah Junaidi, who was involved in delivering the relief to the most overburdened households, told Arab News that 1,500 winter kids with warm clothing and blankets were distributed in the region.
“We have reached to the poorest communitiesinremote,freezing mountainous hamlets of Khyber. This winter is the coldestin the last five decades and most of the families were lacking of warmclothing,” Junaidisaid.
He describedthewinterpackagesas“gifts frombrothers.”
“SaudiArabiaand Pakistan have great religious, historical and cultural bonds and these packages are the best of example of brotherhood,” he said.
Muhammad Irshad,45, a helper at a grocery shopat Landi Kotal bazaar nearthe Pakistan-Afghanistan border, wasamong theaid recipients. “Withmytinysalary it would not be possible for me to buy such things.KSRelief won many hearts and prayers,”he told Arab News. “My children along with my wife are glad and we have wordstothank KSRelief.They supported us inthisverydifficulttime,” he said.
Haji Rahman,27,adaily wagerandfather of four also considershimself luckyas he received the KSRelief’s winterpackage. “Not only me,but my family is alsoofferingprayersfor this generosity,” he said. “Because ofthevery cold season I couldn’t work properly and due tothat Icould not mangeto earnenough money tokeep my kidswarm,”he said.
In early January,KSRelief launched a $1.5 million winter relief project to distribute 30,000 winter bags containing 180 tons of goods in 21 districts across Pakistan. The initiative is expected to benefit 150,000 people.
With one of the largest humanitarian aid budgets in the world, KSRelief has been working in 46 countries. Pakistan is the fifth-largest recipient of its assistance and has received more than $117.6 million in aid since 2005.
