Charitable organizations in the Eastern Province will provide Iftar meals to thousands of low-income workers in huge air conditioned tents during the month of Ramadan. Large billboards have been erected inviting people to break their fast in the special Iftar tents. The Islamic Cultural Center (ICC) in Dammam has set up Iftar tents in front of the Passport Office this year. These tents will be able to accommodate more than 6000 people who are breaking their fast. The chief organizer of this mass ICC Iftar program told Saudi Gazette that every year the number of persons is increasing and “we have planned to accommodate everybody. We have divided the tent areas based on the nationality of workers as well as the regions that they come from. This helps us to conduct some religious lectures as well as run quiz competitions and study classes prior to Iftar time”. The ICC has made special arrangements for those of Sri Lankan, Indian, Bangladeshi, Indonesian and Arab nationalities. Indian nationals have also been divided into language groups – those speaking Urdu, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, etc. Charitable organizations in the Eastern Province told Saudi Gazette that they always conduct studies to identify the best locations to erect Ramadan Iftar tents so that more and more low-income foreign workers are able to benefit from the meals. This year tents are also located in the 1st and 2nd Industrial Area Dammam, Al-Khobar, Rakha, Jubail, Rastanura and Al-Hassa where thousands of low-income workers live. Charitable organizations are quite selective about the menu that they choose for their Ramadan meals and tenders are floated for caterers with only those who can provide quality food being selected. Iftar meals usually consist of dates, water, laban, fried rice with chicken or mutton, fruits and juices which is more than enough for a person to break his fast. The charity organizations have special committees responsible for supervising the daily menu and for monitoring the quality of the food provided, even ensuring that each item of food is placed nicely in the Iftar food boxes. If there is even the slightest suspicion about the quality of any food item, it is immediately rejected and the catering group that provided it is blacklisted. Tent companies in the Eastern Province do a brisk business during Ramadan as charitable organizations hold their mass Iftar camps in air-conditioned tents due to the heat and humidity.
