The holy month of Ramadan is all about sharing meals with friends and family. But it doesn’t have to stop there. If you’re looking to extend a compassionate hand and provide meals to those in need of them, we’ve compiled a list of trusted channels you can rely on to strengthen community bonds, whether you’re short on time or ready to roll up your sleeves.

Note: The prices listed in this guide reflect those advertised at the time of publication, and may be subject to change.

CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND NGOs: These organizations are a tried and tested channel to help those people who are most in need. Conveniently, they offer online options to make sure that your good intentions aren’t sidelined by busy schedules.

#1- Misr El Kheir has options for every budget. Their traditional donation boxes come in three sizes:

  • The Satr Box (6.5 kg), priced at EGP 275, and packed with essentials like rice, pasta, sugar, ghee or oil, beans, and dates.
  • The Baraka Box (11.25 kg), priced at EGP 450, with similar staples in larger quantities.
  • El Kheir Box (12.3 kg), priced at EGP 550, offering the most comprehensive basic package with rice, pasta, sugar, oil or ghee, tomato paste, salt, beans, dates, vermicelli, and orzo.

For those looking to make a bigger impact, their Family Support Box (65 kg), priced at EGP 3k, includes everything a family needs for the month. In addition to the items included in the smaller options, this one also includes four frozen whole chickens and 5kg of freekeh.

Working with a tighter budget? You can still contribute through their meal programs, which start from just EGP 30 for a Suhoor meal, up to EGP 350 for a family meal.

Want to help an entire community? Their Village Iftar program, priced at EGP 90k, provides 1k meals to feed a remote village for the necessary meals for the day.

What if they have different needs? El Khair offers EGP 550 gift cards to allow recipients the liberty to pick the groceries they need most.

#2- The Egyptian Food Bank is always a reliable option. Each of their three available options include rice, pasta, sugar, black-eyed peas, fava beans, dates, salt, tomato sauce, oil, tea, cheese, and flour, with the two larger boxes containing meat. They range from:

  • A 9 kg box, priced at EGP 400
  • A 15 kg box, priced at EGP 700
  • A 30 kg box, prices at EGP 1.4k

The EFB also offers Individual iftar meals. There are two options, one priced at EGP 85 for Iftar, and the other priced at EGP 100 for both Iftar and Ssuhoor.

If you really want to go the extra mile, you may consider donating to their Iftar tents across 27 governorates. Contribution options range from EGP 1k to EGP 5k.

#3 Al Orman Association is currently offering three different size boxes, each containing rice, pasta, sugar, dates, lentils, beans, ghee, tomato sauce and tea. Here are the options:

  • A 8.5 kg box, priced at EGP 365
  • A 10.5 kg box, priced at EGP 615
  • A 20 kg box, prices at EGP 815

For convenience, you can make online donations to Misr El Kheir, the Egyptian Food Bank, and Al Orman Association through Talabat.

SUPERMARKETS: Big chains have donation boxes too, and they come packed with ingredients needed to cook well-rounded meals. This is a great way to fulfill two needs with one deed, and stock your pantry while helping others do the same.

#1- HyperOne has two available donation boxes: The medium and large Charity Boxes are priced at EGP 225 and EGP 350. Both boxes include rice, sugar, pasta, tea, ghee, fava beans, tomato paste, dry dates, and oil, with additional lentils and dates in the large box.

#2- Carrefour offers Ramadan boxes valued at EGP 170 packing seven items: two bags of pasta, and singular bags of rice, sugar, oil, ghee, and salt. Their limit of ten boxes per one online order still stands, but this year, they’re offering a promotion that adds the tenth box at no charge at the purchase of nine boxes.

#3- Mahmoud El Far offers three donation boxes for you to choose from: The smallest is priced at EGP 165 and includes rice, sugar, pasta, tomato paste, oil, and tea, the medium at EGP 200 and adds beans, and the large for EGP 288 and adds beans, lentils and salt.

If you’d like to leave the contents up to the purchaser, you have the option to buy a Premium Card, with values ranging from EGP 50 to EGP 1k. These donations are all available from Mahmoud El Far’s mobile app.

#4- Lulu Hypermarket currently offers a Ramadan box for EGP 160 that includes rice, oil, pasta, tea, salt, tomato sauce, and fava beans. Also, you may take advantage of ongoing Ramadan discounts to build a customized box. You can also make these purchases via Lulu’s mobile app.

#5- Metro has available Ramadan boxes with an EGP 230 price tag, packed with yellow rice, oil, sugar, ghee, pasta, tomato sauce, tea, and salt. You can place your order through Talabat, with a cap of 99 boxes.

#6- Spinneys offers two options: Their Ramadan bag has a price tag of EGP 165, and a Ramadan box priced at EGP 200. Both contain the same items — rice, pasta, oil, salt, dates, and tomato sauce, and the box adds ghee to the list. Unlike the rest of the stores, there is no maximum order limit.

FOOD DELIVERY APPS: You can purchase pre-packed Ramadan charity boxes with just a few clicks through these apps.

#1- Talabat and Instapay host several charitable organizations on their sites and apps. These include Misr El Kheir, the Egyptian Food Bank, and Al Orman. Find the charity you’d like to donate to, pick your donation box, and pay through the Talabat portal. The delivery app will distribute your donations for you.

#2- Rabbit offers their own donation services. Normally, they only offer an EGP 169 Ramadan box that includes rice, sugar, pasta, ghee, tomato paste, and salt. This year, they’ve added an option to purchase 20 boxes for EGP 3.6k, and an option to purchase up to 50 boxes through their super saver section for EGP 8.5k. As per usual for this delivery app, you can have the boxes delivered to you on the same day, with a maximum of ten bags per order

#3- Breadfast also provides donations through their app. For EGP 250, you can donate sugar, rice, pasta, oil, ghee, tea, lentils, tomato paste, and salt. If they sell out, you can choose to be notified when the boxes are back in stock.

HANDS-ON GIVING BACK: If you have some time to spare and would like to help prepare the boxes for donation, here’s where to look.

#1- Al Joud Foundation is recruiting helping hands to distribute donations via Instagram . If you can’t lend a hand with distributing donations, you should consider checking out Al Joud’s Ramadan donations: the Al Joud box for EGP 500, an Iftar meal for EGP 85, and a full Iftar table for EGP 1k.

#2- Lifemakers are also looking for some assistance. Drop them a message via Instagram to get all the details. Once there, make sure to check out the Ramadan boxes and individual or family meals made available by Lifemakers.

#3- Share a Smile is organizing packaging events, and they will be happy to tell you how else you can be involved if you contact them via Facebook or Instagram. Not able to attend an event? You can always choose to donate from a wide range of options that include meals, food boxes, clothing, youth programs, and gifts for orphan children, the elderly, and brides.

#4- Seket El Kheir launched a campaign and needs help in collecting 2k meals each worth EGP 400. Also, the organization is currently recruiting volunteers.

#5- The Egyptian Food Bank is perhaps the most popular way to volunteer. To sign up, you can contact them on Facebook, email them, or call at 16060.

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