Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, launched the 8th and final edition of Volunteer Emirates 2017 at Radiant School in Sharjah. Sponsored by Coca-Cola, in partnership with the Global Restaurant Leadership Conference (GRLC), the latest edition brought together a total of 100 volunteers from the UAE community to deliver essential educational requirements to the school.  
 
The 8th edition of Volunteer Emirates 2017, which is in line with the UAE’s “Year of Giving 2017”, provided Radiant School with a wide variety of school equipment and services to enhance the learning environment of the school which included: equipping the computer lab with new tables and chairs; supplying new students desks and chairs, metal closets, projectors and whiteboards for the classrooms; providing new library books and lab equipment; installing playground toys; building a stage in the girls’ assembly area; and placing benches across the school. The initiative, which benefited 1,118 students, also provided landscaping and educational murals across the school grounds, to enhance the overall learning environment. 
 
Speaking on the 8th edition of Volunteer Emirates 2017, Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Cares said: “Through the final edition of Volunteer Emirates 2017, Dubai Cares is ensuring that children enrolled in this non-profit school will receive an education in an enriched learning environment. By enabling Radiant School in Sharjah to deliver a better standard of education, we are providing these young children with better opportunities for the future. We are grateful to Coca-Cola and the Global Restaurant Leadership Conference who are once again sponsoring our initiative and helping us cover the cost in its entirety. With this edition, we are wrapping up our Volunteer Emirates initiative for the year, a year which will forever be known as the “The Year of Giving”. Along with our donor and volunteers, we have made a tangible and lasting difference in the educational experience of the next generation.”
 
Omar Bennis, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, the Coca-Cola Company Middle East added: “We are committed to improving the communities in which we operate and are proud to partner with Dubai Cares in its efforts to enrich school learning environment within the Volunteer Emirates initiatives. During the last four editions, it has been fantastic to see the contribution that our staff has made in renovating schools across the Emirates and improving the educational environment for children in the community, particularly as it is the Year of Giving.”

“On behalf of Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, we welcome this initiative which is a true reflection of excellence and humanity, represented by Dubai Cares and its team of volunteers," said Heba Al Hamrani, Director of Administration and Finance at Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services.
 
Kilion Okoth, one of the participating volunteers said: “This is my second volunteering experience with Dubai Cares. The first was in Nepal where I helped build a school. Kindness is something the deaf can hear and the blind can see. That’s something that is quite evident here today.”
 
Another volunteer, Humaid Al Ali, said: “Today I was part of the mural drawing team. This has been a new experience to me, and was quite a challenge at the beginning. I looking forward to seeing the reaction of the children when they get to see their new school walls.”
 
Across all Dubai Cares’ eight editions of Volunteer Emirates 2017, more than 3,200 volunteers from the UAE community were engaged to enrich the learning environment for students through the renovation of schools across the UAE’s seven emirates, and the distribution of school kits to children from low-income families.