Zakat fund to distribute 20k school bags, cash gifts to underprivileged families

AMMAN — The Zakat Fund Council, chaired by Awqaf Minister Abdul Nasser Abul Bassal, on Tuesday approved purchasing 20,000 school bags to be distributed to children of underprivileged families across the Kingdom. 

The bags which will be distributed along with stationary, will cost the fund JD300,000, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

During a meeting attended by Jordan’s Grand Mufti Mohammad Khalayleh, Abul Bassal highlighted the fund’s role in providing aid to underprivileged individuals, providing care for orphans and funding income-generating enterprises.

The minister said that the bags will be presented to the students after Eid Al Adha (the Muslim holiday marking the pilgrimage to Mecca), which precedes the beginning of the scholastic year.

Also on Tuesday, the council approved distributing an extra JD75 with the August salaries to the families and orphans beneficiaries of the fund on the occasion of the Eid, according to Petra.  

The fund’s Director General Abed Smeirat said that cash gift will cost another JD300,000.

Also among the decisions, the council decided to purchase 300 sheep which it will give to underprivileged families as macro enterprises.

The council also announced including more male and female debtors to the fund’s “Sahm Al Gharimat” (funds allocated for indebted women) initiative, which aims to help release women who cannot pay for their freedom.     

Last year, the fund paid JD200,000 for the release of 386 women who were imprisoned after failing to pay back their loans.