A Report on the “Mehr-e Omid” Campaign and Celebration for Families Supported by Omid Charity Association
The sound of music, children’s laughter, and the excitement of games filled the hall. For a few hours, there was no trace of the treatment environment or the worries of difficult days. Children whose lives had been spent alongside a family member’s illness had gathered together this time in a different atmosphere—to play, to laugh, and to experience a moment that felt more like an ordinary childhood day. These scenes reflected what unfolded at the closing celebration of the “Mehr-e Omid” campaign; an event that once again demonstrated how social support, when accompanied by empathy, can create an atmosphere of joy and hope even in the midst of the hardest days.
According to the Public Relations Office of Omid, the “Mehr-e Omid” celebration was held on Thursday, September 10th, with the attendance of members of the Omid Charity Association’s Board of Directors, benevolent campaign supporters, the volunteer team, and beneficiary families under the association’s care. The celebration marked the conclusion of a campaign that had begun in early August with the aim of standing alongside and empathizing with families dealing with cancer.
During the event, a variety of child-centered programs were presented—from cartoons and theater performances to musical group performances, stand-up shows, voice impressions, cheerful competitions, and educational film screenings. The purpose of these programs was not merely entertainment; it was to provide an opportunity for children and families to spend a few hours away from the concerns of treatment and daily pressures, in a warm, joyful, and hopeful atmosphere. The organizers of this event believe that such moments, however brief, have a significant psychological impact on the morale of ill children and their families and are an inseparable part of the comprehensive support process for these families.
From a Human Concern to the Formation of a Social Campaign
Behind this celebration lay a simple yet important concern: families facing cancer are not confronted with the issue of treatment alone. For many of these families, alongside pursuing the treatment process, matters such as meeting daily needs, preparing children for the start of the school year, and providing basic life essentials become additional concerns that place a heavy burden on their shoulders.
The “Mehr-e Omid” campaign was formed in response to this reality—an effort to address, on the eve of school reopenings, some of the needs of underprivileged families affected by cancer and their children. Led by the volunteer team and the social work unit of Omid Charity Association, the campaign began its journey to identify needs, connect with supporters, and prepare aid. Before the campaign launched, the association’s social work experts, through continuous visits and calls with supported families, prepared a detailed list of priority needs for each family so that the collected support could be distributed according to the real circumstances of every household. Thus, the Mehr-e Omid campaign focused on three main areas: providing clothing, school bags, and stationery needed by children on the eve of school reopenings; hygiene items; and essential household supplies. These needs may appear small on the surface, but they hold great importance for a family that simultaneously bears the difficult path of illness and the responsibilities of daily life.
The clothing and stationery items included school bags, shoes, pencils, colored pencils, pens, rulers, pencil cases, markers, mechanical pencils, notebooks, pencil sharpeners, erasers, and dolls. The hygiene items included shampoo, hand soap, hand-wash laundry detergent, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. The food supply package contained rice, chicken, beef, cooking oil, chickpeas, pasta, tomato paste, soy, lentils, sugar, biscuits, cake, cookies, juice, and flavored milk.
Providing these items before the beginning of the school year was of particular priority, especially for families whose children were about to start a new academic year, since educational expenses during this period are typically heavier for families than at any other time.
Mehr-e Omid: An Invitation to Join Hands
Throughout the campaign, benevolent supporters, volunteers, and partner groups of Omid Charity Association stood together to shape this social movement. Coordination between the different divisions of the association—from the social work team to the donor relations team and the event execution team—played a vital role in the campaign’s success.
Along this path, 20 donors joined the Mehr-e Omid campaign with cash contributions totaling 4,254,500,000 Rials. Additionally, 36 donors and social partners contributed to meeting the needs of the supported families by donating non-cash items valued at 14,119,191,200 Rials, so that the total collected cash and non-cash aid enabled the preparation of 100 support packages containing the essential items needed by the families and their children.
It is worth mentioning that any donation to Omid Charity, whether in cash or in kind, is directly used to meet the needs of these families, and Omid Charity Association, with full transparency, makes its financial performance reports available to donors and the public.
The Participation of Benevolent Groups on the Day of the Celebration
On the day of the Mehr-e Omid celebration, the hospitality and side programs of the event were also carried out with the participation of benevolent groups. Among them, the esteemed donor Ehsan Barzanji provided all the stationery required for this campaign. Tara Sanat Iranian Company supplied a significant portion of the hygiene items, and Aras Baran Azar Company provided the tomato paste needed for the food supply package. Talia and Aftab Espota companies also provided cakes, cookies, and flavored milk for the guests’ breakfast, while Azerbaijan Restaurant covered the guests’ lunch. Alongside these corporate partners, the names of many donors who, through their small and large contributions, facilitated the provision of the items needed for this campaign, shine like the sun of hope.
At the end of the Mehr-e Omid celebration, in addition to the cultural and joyful programs, support packages containing food and educational supplies were presented to the children of beneficiary families under the care of Omid Charity Association. These packages were the result of the collaboration of a group of donors, volunteers, and social partners of the association—a collaboration that began with a simple message and ultimately resulted in tangible support for families who need extra assistance along the path of cancer.
