Beyond trying to be more pious and practicing self-restraint, many ideas could help you be a better version of yourself this Ramadan. Most importantly, they are sustainable ideas, so you can continue making a difference even after the holy month ends.
- Stop wasting food. This is a common vice during Ramadan, and we all need to be more conscious about the quantities of food we cook.
- If you are visiting friends for Iftar, coordinate with your host to make sure what you’ll be bringing will be needed and match the number of guests, not just something to show up with.
- Donate excess fresh food; many organizations, such as UAE Food Bank, are working on distributing food to those in need.
- Donate money to a local charity to help support their activities in your community.
- If you own a garden, plant a tree, or donate to organizations specialized in growing trees on your behalf, like Goumbook.
- Donate blood, especially if your blood type is among the rarest.
- Give relatives/friends with whom you’ve not been in touch a call and ask after them.
- Go for a short walk before Iftar and make it a habit to do any activity every day, even if for 15 minutes only each time.
- Donate your hair to the fighters who have undergone Chemotherapy through the “Locks of Hope” campaign.
- Volunteer to help animals, or even better, adopt a furry friend from one of your community’s animal shelters, and enjoy unlimited love! Thank me later or now!
- Practice random acts of kindness every day.
- Ask yourself, “how can I make someone’s life easier today?”
- Volunteer at the local senior citizens’ center.
- Conduct a wardrobe check and donate all those clothes you did not touch centuries ago!
- Give a new home to the unused gadgets sitting in your garage.
- Buy more often from the local vendors and farmers in your community.
- Offer to go grocery shopping for your senior neighbor.
- Use your unique skills and tutor a student, either with a community center or through distance calls.
- Open your business to offer free services/consultations to underprivileged people.
- Go green at home, try to recycle, take shorter showers, use less plastic, or replace outdated light bulbs with energy-efficient lighting. In short, save mother earth!
- Give extra generous tips to individuals working in the service sector, such as delivery riders, servers, technicians in salons etc.
- Cook & deliver food for the homeless in your community.
- Volunteer as a family in a non-profit organization.
- Help a job seeker find a new opportunity.
- Say thank you more often, please!
