The Happy Hearts Giving Campaign

Jumana Al Darwish, co-founder of The Happy Box,  teamed up with Joelle Mardinian, in a special, charity project to spread happiness among the disadvantaged Jordanian and Syrian Makani children living as refugees in Amman, Jordan. Below I share with you some information and photographs, provided by The Happy Box, of the wonderful charity work carried out by Jumana and the team. Though this mission was carried out in December 2015, I still remember watching all the snapchats from The Happy Box and seeing the infectious energy and happiness that The Happy Box team were spreading throughout Jordan, especially the smiles being brought to the orphans. Read on to find out exactly how this was achieved…

Through partnering with the Jordanian chapter of Save the Children Jordan and under the sponsorship of leading property developer The First Group, Jumana and Joelle went to Amman on December 15, 16 and 17 and took hundreds of customised Happy Boxes – kits stocked full of elementary school supplies and activities – with them, to deliver among children at the Zaatari Refugee Camp, children studying at an informal education centre run by Save the Children Jordan and in partnership withUNICEF under the Makani initiative that provides informal education for children in need, and children at the Queen Rania Family and Children Centre (QRFCC).

Through a generous donation from The First Group, Jumana together with Joelle and dozens of volunteers, over the course of three days, delivered a total of 1,600 boxes to disadvantaged children across Jordan.

“It is a dream come true for us to have teamed up with such wonderful partners in order to bring a moment of happiness to the lives of such precious children,” said Jumana, who herself is a Jordanian citizen. “We are incredibly grateful for the care and generosity shown by The First Group and its willingness to sponsor Happy Hearts and give back to families in need. We are also delighted to have someone as inspiring and influential as Joelle choose to support Happy Hearts and bring the world’s attention to the plight suffered by the underprivileged and misfortunate children living their lives in a refugee camp and to the children in need, displaced from their homes and struggling to keep warm this winter. The Happy Box kits that we are getting ready to distribute in Jordan will become a source of happiness, I hope, for children in need.”

Jumana and Joelle’s trip began with a stop at the Jordan River Foundation’s  (JRF) offices, where volunteers from the Jordanian community as well as family and friends of the JRF team assisted the ladies in packaging 1,600 Happy Boxes for children. Aramex, the leading global logistics and transportation solutions provider andthe official logistics partner for The Happy Box, donated time and manpower to facilitate all logistical needs for the charitable campaign, and delivered all supplies to JRF offices then delivered the packaged boxes to both the Zaatari Camp and the QRFCC.

Once the boxes were ready, 1,100 of them were gifted to the children of Zaatari Camp, another 400 were donated to the informal educational Makani centre and the remaining 100 were presented to the QRFCC.

This is the third charitable distribution for the Happy Hearts giving programme, launched as the social responsibility arm of The Happy Box in August 2015.  For every Happy Box purchased, Happy Hearts donates a box to a child in need. Happy Hearts has previously distributed The Happy Box among disadvantaged children at a shelter in Nepal, and orphaned children at a centre in Jordan.Of setting up the charity arm, Jumana said: “I have spent my whole life wanting to give back to communities in need, influenced as I was from such a young age by my father’s work in the UN and pursuing a career as an adult working in philanthropy for various governments and non-profit organisations. I finally feel complete now that we’ve established Happy Hearts.”

Main Sponsor of The Happy Hearts Giving Campaign charity trip: The First Group.

Supporting INGOs and Governmental Agencies: Jordan River Foundation, Save the Children Foundation, UNICEF, UNHCR, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior and SARD. 

Pro–bono Supporting Partners :include Aramex, The Four Seasons Amman, Nasser Majali, Mug Shot Productions and Al Waha Security Services.

If you would like to find out more, check out my interview with Jumana herself, as she talks explains the concept of The Happy Box and how it came about, as featured on Local Flair here. Why not also check out the post of Jumana’s inspirational Meet and Greet event, here.