Stop And Help Partners With Emirates Loto

Grassroots community initiative Stop and Help is partnering with Emirates Loto, who is pledging to assist 25 families a day until the end of 2020. The announcement was made during the twelfth Emirates Loto draw.

The partnership will be supported by supermarket chain Choitrams who will pack and supply180,000 people in need with the Stop and Help Kindness Packages. These packs will include essential groceries and baby items for families in need who have lost income during the COVID-19 Crisis.

Launched on 22 March, Stop and Help was formed with one single objective: supporting families with children living in Dubai.  The concept of the organisation is simple; matching a family in need with a person who is willing to help, and who dispatches kindness in the form of basic groceries delivered directly to the family.

To date, the Facebook page that started in March with just a few kind people, now has nearly 11,000 followers. Stop and Help has enabled more than 10,000 people in need to be supported during the COVID-19 crisis, thanks to the kindness of more than 3,000 givers.

Speaking about the partnership with Emirates Loto Heather Harries, Founder of Stop and Help said: “I am delighted that Emirates Loto has chosen to support Stop and Help as it will enable us to extend our support to so many families. It is incredible that our community initiative has been recognised in this way after only forming in March this year. This recognition and support is testament to the many Stop and Help volunteers who tirelessly work to make a difference to families’ lives every single day; and to the generosity of our amazing givers. I am so grateful to Emirates Loto and Choitrams for supporting us – this is really allowing us to change so many lives. Thank you.”

Since its inception in March 2020, Stop and Help has grown to become much more than just a simple platform to exchange kindness – it has become a grassroots movement where support is available for the thousands of families who have lost their jobs, not been paid, have no savings and who don’t know where the next meal will come from or how they will pay their rent.

The COVID pandemic has skewed the purpose of kindness to include much more basic needs. Hunger is terrible at any level, but children being hungry is something that requires urgent attention. Stop and Help aims to continue to support families of all walks of life, nationality, and religion, for as long as it is needed. In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the saying that ‘it takes a village to raise a family’ could never be truer.