More than 410 non-Muslims participated in Hyatt Plaza's Fast-a-thon, a charity event that offers the opportunity to experience fasting for one day. This year, for every person who registered and Fasted, Hyatt Plaza and Qatar Charity will donate 200 QAR on his/her behalf to help ending hunger in Somalia.

Consequently, the shopping mall and Qatar Charity have pledged to donate QAR90,000, in order to provide food to destitute children and alleviate the suffering of people living in drought-affected areas in Somalia.

An Iftar party was also organized for the participants, allowing them to share their fasting experience and promote the universal values of brotherhood, tolerance and empathy.

"Ramadan is the month of goodness and giving, which is also what this event is all about. We have a double objective that we want to achieve from Fastathon; first, we wanted to endorse acceptance, tolerance and social solidarity, and second, we aimed to raise awareness about the alarming situation in Somalia" said Feroz Moideen, general manager, Hyatt Plaza.

"As new expats in Qatar, my family and I have been intrigued by the local culture for a while now, especially during Ramadan. Fastathon represents and great opportunity for me and my family, to experience fasting and link it to a great cause, like fighting famine in Somalia," said Johnny B., one of the participants.

The proceedings from the Fast-a-thon will be donated to urgent projects, which were earlier initiated by a project aiming at providing food and medical supplies to about 19,000 affected people.

This year witnessed the highest participation for Fast-a-thon and the proceeds will be able to help ease the famine in Somalia.