RM200,000 here we come!

Achievable or not? Yes, I think it is and will be in our means, that is if all our 200 trekkers each collect RM1,000 from their friends, colleagues and relatives. Our humble beginnings of A Piece Of Hope (APOH) charity trek started with just 66 trekkers in 2007 and now grown to 200. This is the 5th chapter and we aim to be the best and most challenging of all.

Helping the less fortunate has been the heart beat of APOH and it will always be. Without it, climbing this mountain for the 12th time expecially for Jimmy Lim (our climb organiser), will have just stopped due to no purpose. This time around Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) is the beneficiary of this charity trek. This is not a home but a centre that helps children with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities including cerebral palsy, hyperactivity, autism, blindness, down syndrome, global development delay, etc.

Agree with me or not, all of us got a soft spot for NGOs as they are self-reliant for their own expenses. Getting these funds in to support the running of it is tough. Even tougher is getting it on time to fund it. As they climb their 'mountain', we at APOH will climb ours. Which is easier? You can only answer it yourself.

With only 1 and 1/2 months to go before we ascend the mountain, we must utilise it wisely for maximum impact. No matter how much we can collect, may it be RM10 or RM10,000, we have at the least did something meaningful for PKKI.

An email detailing how the donation collection is to be done will be send out. In it a covering letter from PKKI and donation forms are attached as pictured above. If for any reason some of you did not receive these, please inform Jimmy or myself (apieceofhope@gmail.com) and we will gladly email you again. You can also download it by clicking the picture above.

Happy Soliciting Donation!

Recce visit to Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat (PKKI) on 30th March 2011 @ 3pm

This time of the year again has brought us to make a recce visit to a beneficiary NGO. The location of this NGO was fairly difficult to find as it is located in the older part of Taman Cuepacs Cheras. The 'A Piece Of Hope' (APOH) committee members comprising of Jimmy, Engu, Foo Weng, Tat Boon and myself (Ted), all arrived at the center between 3 to 3.30pm with some directional help of Ms. Shirley Tan (PKKI's president).

The center was setup by Mrs. Aimee Chan in 1995 with a pioneering group of parents and their children who suffers multiple disabilities. They were compelled to start their own training center due to the government schools and institutions not allowing admission to their children because of the severity of their conditions. Presently, the center help children with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities including cerebral palsy, hyperactivity, autism, blindness, down syndrome, global developmental delay, etc. The center now operates from 3 terrace houses and one of which is a corner house where main activities are conducted.

Ms. Shirley mentioned that they help children from all walks of life. The children now numbers around 90 pax and there is a growing need to expand the center's premises. She showed us that they have bought a piece of land for future development of the center. At the moment, they do not have the finances to build a building on the land. Fund raising efforts are in placed to do just that.

As a mother to a child who suffers a physical disability since birth (but since passed away in 2010), Ms. Shirley could understand and feel the needs of parents to train and equip their children to be independent. She mentioned that without this center, many parents are so helpless in bringing up their disabled child. Some of these parents who come to the center could not even afford the minimal fee. Thus, her fervent and undying passion to spearhead the center to the next level needs assistance from outsiders in terms of finances.

The visit to PKKI was a successful recce that concluded in an agreement to help them raise funds. APOH has set a monumental figure of RM200,000 as the target for this year's Mt. Kinabalu trek happening from 9 to 13 July 2011.

A Great Christmas Gift!

With the year drawing to a close and Christmas season is still lingering around, what would be the best gift you can possibly give someone especially to those orphaned children? A toy car? A toy doll? Beautiful clothes? Money? To me and I think all of you would agree is LOVE.

The good works of the people at Sunbeams Home have truly been blessed as they continue to work to give 'parental' LOVE to the orphaned children under their care in Taman Mawar, Cheras. We at APOH can only help them from a far by raising funds for them. Our 'A Piece Of Hope Chapter 4 Mt Kinabalu Charity Trek' about 5 1/2 months ago to date have raised an awesome...

This is a figure that we can hardly imagine when we first started. A big figure because we believed that YOU who gave have a BIG heart for these underprivileged children. Indeed this is a great Christmas gift for them.

We hope that as APOH continue to help the next children NGO in 2011, YOU can participate again in donating your resources. You can always rest assure that your contribution is genuinely directed to the NGO.

Thank you and Happy New Year to all!