ABU DHABI // More than 300 young volunteers have been honoured by the Emirates Foundation for Youth Development.
They participated in home makeovers, a desert clean-up, an Earth Hour event and a Global Youth Service Day campaign through the foundation’s Takatof programme.
Takatof organises community service opportunities for youth in the UAE, primarily Emiratis.
The ceremony was held at the Dubai Community Theatre in Mall of the Emirates.
Volunteer Ahmed Adnan Othman said Takatof gave him the chance to improve his communication and organisational skills. “The recognition we received was a moral push for us, and motivation to pursue our volunteer work and give more to our community,” he said.
Takatof has 26,000 registered volunteers aged from 18 to 40.
Among the volunteers who were honoured were team leaders for the recent desert clean-up campaign, including Mr Othman, Afnan Mohammed, Yousef Al Daramaki, Abdullah Al Raisi, Asma Al Shehi, Ahmed Al Jerman and Rashed Al Muhairi.
Team leaders for the Earth Hour and home makeover projects were: Khalid Al Hammadi, Ahmed Al Shehhi, Issa Mohammed Zeraif, Saeed Al Muhairi, Khalfan Al Marashda, Latifa Galoom, Abdulrahman Al Yafi, Khulood Al Zaabi, Mahmoud Al Khatiti, Talha Ali, Basel Hussein and Ali Al Hammadi.
Team leaders for the Global Youth Service Day event were: Noura Salibi, Alia Al Mansouri, Mohammed Al Saadi, Ahmed Maktabi and Khalid Al Hammadi.
Volunteers can register with Takatof online at www.takatof.ae.