Ensan opens new branch offices

Prince Faisal bin Salman, chairman of the executive committee of the Charitable Society for the Care of Orphans (Ensan), launched the organization’s new branch offices in Majmaa, Wadi Al-Dawasser and Quwaieyah during a ceremony here Tuesday. Ensan, which has 12 branches, currently takes care of more than 40,000 orphans in the Riyadh region, said Saleh Al-Yousuf, director general of the society. “Five of Ensan’s branches are inside the Riyadh city while seven are outside,” Al-Yousuf told the launching ceremony at the Marriott Hotel in Riyadh. Al-Yousuf highlighted the reward for supporting orphans by citing a Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who had said that he and the sponsor of orphans would be sitting closer in Paradise. During the meeting donations to the tune of SR 4.37 million were announced by philanthropists to support Ensan’s charitable projects. Prince Faisal honored Prince Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah, governor of Majmaa; Abdullah Al-Rabiah, governor of Quwaieyah; Khaled Al-Ghamlas, deputy governor of Wadi Al-Dawasser; and sponsors of the launching event. Prince Ahmed bin Fahd, member of the development committee at Ensan, and Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, secretary-general of the society, attended the ceremony. In a previous statement, Yousuf stressed that orphans would get priority when the Real Estate Development Fund distributes loans. “A poor person without relatives should not be equated with a person with relatives. Orphans should be placed on the priority list of eligible people for loans,” Yousuf said. The society has launched a portal called the Ensan portal to link all its branches in Riyadh province to ensure administrative efficiency. Ensan’s sponsorship services include giving financial assistance to single mothers. A mother is given three cards to cover the various expenses of a sponsored child. One of the cards enables the mother to claim SR 50 for each member of her family from Al-Rajhi Bank. The second card provides SR 150 for food for each member and the third enables the mother to claim SR 50 to buy clothes for each member. The total annual cost of these cards is estimated at SR 120 million. Ensan also allocates SR 1 million to rent out apartments to families monthly. This is apart from SR 100,000 for each family for repairs in addition to paying out more than SR 1 million for furnishing and buying electrical devices for houses every month. The annual expenditure on orphans’ education reached SR 10 million. Its educational programs included enrolling orphans in good private or public schools, sending school dropouts to professional institutes and girls to health institutes. Student orphans are also supplied with school kits every academic year. The society has spent SR 600 million over the past 10 years for the welfare of orphans, Yousuf said, adding that the number of philanthropists showing interest in sponsoring orphans is growing. “While most individuals prefer sponsoring child orphans, the society continues its relations with grownup orphans and provides assistance with regard to job placements and married life,” he added. He said the committee arranged many orphan marriages under the Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd Project, which has volunteered to arrange 1,000 marriages involving orphans. From : Arabnews