Dubai businessman campaigns to feed thousands around the world during Ramadan

Ramadan is an occasion for empathy – one of the goals of abstaining from food and drink is to understand the situation of the less fortunate. But for Com Mirza, the chief executive of Mirza Holdings and Mirza Events, who has pledged to feed thousands around the world every year during the holy month, that compassion originates from a childhood memory.

“There was a Ramadan where we didn’t have much food on the table,” says the Canadian.

“Someone had given us some food at the time and I still remember it to this day. This initiative stems from myself coming from poverty. I know how it feels, and also realise it takes just a handful of people to make a difference.”

This is the fifth year the Dubai-based entrepreneur has helped feed the poor in Pakistan, India, the United States, Canada and the UAE through volunteers in those countries.

Until last year, the businessman was pumping his own resources into the cause, catering for 25,000 underprivileged people in 2011. That number skyrocketed to about 102,000 people last year. Mirza hopes to eventually feed one million every year.

Original article by Afshan Ahmed

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Dubai businessman campaigns to feed thousands around the world during Ramadan