By Doha News Staff
You may have seen them at your local supermarket distributing face masks and gloves or stewarding people away from each other much like ushers at a football stadium. They are teams of volunteers who are part of The Qatar Red Crescent Society’s #HelpMeHelpYou initiative which has been going on for several weeks now.
The campaign is part of QRC’s ongoing efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19, and it aims to raise awareness and protect the community from infection by implementing different safety procedures inside supermarkets like AlMeera, Lulu Hypermarket, Carrefour and others. The Red Crescent has dispatched volunteers across 29 zones in Doha, covering the entire city. Each zone has a designated leader and a group of supervisors to guide the volunteers.
Hundreds of volunteers signed up using the QRC’s volunteer app, they included people from different ages and nationalities. Team leaders and supervisors were given online training before they were assigned their locations. The training included how to raise awareness, what precautions should be taken to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, and how the volunteers can stay healthy while at work.
Their responsibilities start by manning the entrances of supermarkets and ensuring everyone is wearing face masks and gloves and distributing them to those who don’t have any; they also measure people’s temperature as they enter. Inside the stores, the volunteers make sure shoppers maintain the correct amount of distance between each other and remind them not to touch their face, mouth, or eyes.
Mona Fadel Al Sulaiti, Executive Director of Volunteering and Head of Local Development Division at QRCS highlighted the benefit of this initiative for all members of the community. The large number of volunteers come from different nationalities and speak different languages, allowing them to communicate easier with shoppers. Al Sulaiti outlined that the number of volunteers assigned to different branches is based on need, and that the QRC takes into consideration the size of the shop, and how busy they get.
One of the volunteers, Muhammed AlNajar told local media that each supermarket has at least 4 to 5 volunteers who brief shoppers on the different precautions that should be followed prior to entering. He said the initiative has received positive responses from residents.
Has this initiative made you feel safer when going to the supermarket? Let us know your thoughts.
