On a Friday morning in early July, as the temperature in Dubai climbed past 40 degrees Celsius before noon, a bright orange refrigerated van pulled up near a construction site in Al Quoz. Workers queued beside it, each receiving a chilled bottle of water, a juice, and an ice cream. For Saqib, one of the beneficiaries who spoke to Khaleej Times, the summary was simple: “This weather is not easy to work in.” That single sentence is the whole reason Al Freej Fridge exists.
Ferjan Dubai officially launched the third edition of the Al Freej Fridge humanitarian community campaign on July 3 at Al Khawaneej Majlis, supported by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and held in collaboration with the UAE Water Aid Foundation (Suqia) and the UAE Food Bank. The Al Freej Fridge campaign aims to distribute two million bottles of cold water, juices and frozen treats to workers across Dubai throughout the summer, running until September 3, 2026.
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Al Freej Fridge: Three Years, Growing Every Time
The Al Freej Fridge campaign did not arrive at this scale overnight. The first edition in 2024 distributed one million refreshing items to workers across the emirate. The second edition, which attracted more than 15 government entities and private sector companies alongside 250 volunteers, doubled that target and distributed two million water bottles, juices and frozen treats.
The third edition matches the second edition’s target of two million items, but expands its volunteer network significantly. More than 200 Emirati volunteers, double the number of last year, will work in two shifts to hand out supplies. Portable fridges will also be provided, enabling community volunteers to stock and distribute refreshments to workers across the emirate independently, extending the campaign’s reach well beyond the four refrigerated vans.
Who Gets Reached and Where
The Al Freej Fridge campaign is specifically targeted at workers who have no choice but to be outdoors during the peak summer months. Construction workers, cleaners, delivery riders, road workers, and landscaping staff are the primary beneficiaries. Distribution covers some of Dubai’s most industrially dense and labour-heavy zones, including Jebel Ali, Al Quoz, Al Warqa, and Al Barsha. These are areas where worker traffic is highest and where access to cold refreshments during a shift is least guaranteed.
There are operational differences between Suqia UAE and the UAE Food Bank. Suqia UAE is distributing huge quantities of cold bottled water to workers and UAE Food Bank has ensured access to its fully-equipped warehouses for water storage and supply of beverages and frozen food, deployed refrigerated distribution vehicles for a safe and timely supply, and deployed its volunteers for ground level distribution.
What the Al Freej Fridge Organisers Said?
Alia Al Shamlan, Director of Ferjan Dubai, placed the campaign’s purpose squarely on recognition, not charity alone. “Workers are a cornerstone of our community’s prosperity and well-being, and they deserve our utmost gratitude, respect and care for their health and comfort,” she said. She also described what she hopes the initiative communicates beyond the physical relief: “Even if people think it’s just ice cream or it’s just water, it actually makes a difference. We try our best to empathise with what they do and, as much as possible, we show them that we feel what they are feeling.”
Ibrahim Al Balooshi, Director of Sustainability and Partnerships at MBRGI, underscored this year’s campaign’s goal of reaching more workers as well as extending its volunteer network and distribution points, which also align with MBRGI’s mission to utilize its skills and resources to bolster humanitarian campaigns for the benefit of all sectors of society.
Why It Matters Beyond a Campaign
The Al Freej Fridge campaign sits within a wider framework of summer worker protections in the UAE. The midday work ban, which runs from June 15 to September 15 and prohibits outdoor work under direct sunlight between 12:30pm and 3pm, creates a regulatory floor. Al Freej Fridge works above that floor, addressing the hours outside the ban and the conditions that persist even when workers are technically permitted to continue. Heat stress and dehydration do not clock out when the midday ban ends. The campaign acknowledges that reality directly.
“While there are rules to protect them working in the sun, we also want to acknowledge the work they do in the summer, and this is the minimum we can do to support them,” Al Shamlan told The National. That framing matters. The campaign is not positioned as a substitute for regulation but as a community gesture running alongside it, built on the belief that rules alone are not the same as recognition.
The Al Freej Fridge campaign runs until September 3, 2026.
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