TikTok to donate 50 thousand dollars to the food bank.
The Holy Month of Ramadan is a time of the year when communities come together around food to spread joy, enjoy Iftar with their families and donate to those in need. However, with this increased demand, there is an increase in wasted food, ultimately wasting valuable resources and depriving those that are most in need. This wastage also leads to higher costs of disposing of the food in landfills and increased pollution of water, land and air. This is why TikTok is committed to spreading awareness around food preservation.
This Holy Month, the Egyptian Food Bank cooperated with TikTok, for the second year in a row, to raise awareness on the importance of food preservation. Under the #cookforgood hashtag, the two brands are encouraging the TikTok MENA community to reduce leftover wastage, joining key chefs and celebrities such as Amro Helmi, Manar Hisham and Amira Shanab to find innovative ways to make delicious dishes from leftovers. For every video created using this hashtag, TikTok donated 50 Egyptian pounds with a cap of 50 thousand dollars. The money contributed to packing Iftar baskets to be donated to those in need in cooperation with the Egyptian Food Bank.
Launching the campaign, TikTok organized a webinar in collaboration with the Egyptian Food Bank to talk about the different ways to combat hunger, and the potential issues too many leftovers can cause. The session was hosted by Farah Tukan, Public Policy Manager, Raghdah Al Azab, Head of Communications MENA at TikTok, Hani Kamel, Content Manager at TikTok and Mohsen Sarhan, CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank.
Commenting on the partnership, Farah Tukan, Public Policy Manager at TikTok MENA said: “Platforms such as TikTok have a responsibility to create an educational and entertaining eco-system for the community and work with non-profit organizations and government bodies such as The Egyptian Food Bank to raise awareness on key issues. We are excited to be partnering with them for the second year in a row to encourage society to embed our key values and change the way they consume food, to make the most of it and not waste it.”
She added: “Over the past few years, we’ve launched several campaigns to support the community and create a positive environment, include #createdonthesistate, #besafebehappy and our safety ambassador program.”
Mohsen Sarhan, CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank, said: “Our partnership with TikTok for the second year in a row will play a positive role in bringing a cultural shift to how Egyptians consume food and manage leftovers, in line with our mission since 2006. Today, we work with hotels and the Ministry of Tourism to make sure we repurpose the untouched surplus food for the benefit of the most needy groups in various governorates of Egypt. The operation team at the Egyptian Food Bank works hard to ensure that the food we collect is safe and remains intact until it reaches the beneficiaries. We continuously seek to provide food to all needy groups throughout the year and not only on occasions.”
In addition, Hany Kamel, TikTok Content Manager in North Africa, said: “TikTok is building a global community that allows users to genuinely create and share content, explore the world around them, and communicate with others through a positive and cheerful digital environment. The campaign #cookforgood will raise awareness of food wastage among Egyptians, encourage society to change the way they consume food and reduce excessive consumption, especially on occasions and holidays.”
