When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the world, thousands of workers were laid off and left with no means to provide for themselves and their families.
In May 2020, during the holy month of Ramadan, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), a non-profit based in the UAE, launched The World’s Tallest Donation Box to provide meal kits to affected individuals and families in the UAE.
The foundation put the Burj Khalifa’s lights up for sale. People could go on the initiative’s website, select one or more lights they would light to illuminate on the facade of the building, just like choosing a flight seat.
Every time someone donated a meal, it would be projected on the building in real time.
For 10 AED (approximately $3) per light, one meal was provided, gradually illuminating the Burj Khalifa’s 1.2 million lights, one at a time, as a message of hope and solidarity to the world.
The initiative reached its target of 1.2 million meals in just nine days, with donations pouring in from all over the world.
Along with individuals, companies from across the world joined the cause too. The tallest building in the world became a beacon of hope and solidarity for the world amid the crisis, uniting people from over a hundred nations for a humanitarian cause.
Together, we lit up 1.2 million lights, sharing our message of hope to the world and achieving the impossible. #BurjKhalifa #1Light1Meal #WorldsTallestDonationBox@MBRInitiatives pic.twitter.com/TSOqsd5ctd
— Burj Khalifa (@BurjKhalifa) May 12, 2020
