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Jomfund_B40 is a group consisting of five undergraduate students from University of Malaya who strive for success in organising an online fundraising event named “Covid-19 Fundraiser: Helping the Less Fortunate”. The project is carried out as a part of the continuous assessment for GLT1015 Advanced Professional Writing. It is known that Covid-19 pandemic has caused a significant economic impact globally. In addition to the global crisis and economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, it also caused a budget crisis in Malaysian households. The unemployment of household heads and salary reduction of employees become the factors that lead to the decrease in household income of Malaysian. Being the bottom tier income earner of the country, B40 community is the most affected community during this Covid-19 pandemic.Recently, an article entitled “Covid-19 forces Malaysia’s poor to live on instant noodles, abandon school: UN Study” (South China Morning Post, 24 August 2020) has reported about the hardship of poor families due to the outbreak of Covid-19. As the consequences of the running out of savings of this community caused by great deal of debt carried and little income during the pandemic, many of them could lose access to necessities such as food and housing. Students are unable to continue school or committed fully to online class because they have no access to computers or the internet necessary for efficient e-learning. Besides, issues of malnutrition occurred as they highly depend on canned food or instant noodles to survive. Therefore, we hope that the implementation of this online fundraising event may help in reducing the burden of the B40 community during the pandemic.These are the objectives of our group project:

1. To reduce the burden of the B40 community during Covid-19.
2. To create awareness about Covid-19 among communities.
3. To provide students came from B40 families with basic educational needs.

As a starting point in organising a fundraising event, we target ourselves to raise RM1000 for Great Vision Charity (Persatuan Harapan Mulia) in support of their charity mission. The funds collected will be utilized on preparing care packages for the B40 families in PPR Pantai Ria as well as assist in funding in study aid for the needy students under Great Vision Charity’s support.  The project will be publicized on social media like Instagram and Facebook to attract the attention of the public as well as increase the number of donors participating in the event. “Giving is not just about making a donation, it’s about making a difference.” said Kathy Calvin, CEO and current President of the United Nations Foundation. Let’s help them to go through this hard time by joining our fundraising event. Your little contribution might result in a huge difference in their lives!

My Journey into the Charity World I had never thought a career break in 2013 would lead me to this path, working in a charity organisation. Many people said it would be a waste for young people to work in a charity organisation and we should only do this when we reached retirement age. So initially, I thought, maybe I can work for 2 years in a charity organisation and gain some experience before moving on and deciding again on what I want to do in my life.Now, with the year 2021 fast approaching, it marks my 7th year serving in a charity organisation. It is a truly remarkable and fulfilling journey and undoubtably has been the best years of my life. But I also came to the realisation that there seems to be no end in solving the ever-growing social problems in our society.Sometimes, I will ask myself, should I give up? But the thought that NGOs are the last hope that the underprivileged have makes me hesitated. Even though we cannot help everyone, but at least we managed to lift the lives of someone. Those lives whom we managed to touch, we gave them assurance that the society still cares and has not given up on them. The realisation that the society needs us had motivated me to continue on this journey and never give up easily. It has also made me realised that living a life with the purpose to serve is a lifelong journey that is worth pursuing for.When there is a will, there is a way. And like-minded people do come together to make it work. This is how more and more charity programs have mushroomed up along the years to benefit more and more underprivileged groups from our society, through different charity arms, among which Great Heart Charity Association, Great Vision Charity Association, Geng Xin Tang, and Earth Warriors Association are some, just to name a few. Alone, we cannot do much, but with the help of generous donors and kind-hearted volunteers like yourself, we have made it thus far. There is still a long and uncertain road ahead, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic looming. Many are impacted by it, especially the vulnerable group of our society. The survival of NGOs at times like this are especially critical as they are the last bastion of support that the underprivileged groups of our society can go to.I am currently supporting a fundraising campaign for Great Vision Charity Association, with the aim to raise enough funds to sustain their operation and be able to continue providing help to the vulnerable groups of our society in the coming year 2021. Do support and share it out if you agree that as part of the society, everyone plays a role and has the responsibility to make it a better one for all.Introduction to Great Vision Charity Association (GVCA) Great Vision Charity Association (GVCA) aims to educate and inspire the underprivileged communities through 2 of its main programs: Rakan Shopping Program and Didik-Kasih EduCare Program.Through the Rakan Shopping Program, besides getting groceries for the needy, volunteers play a role to impart knowledge on how to make better purchase decisions to the B40 communities during the shopping process with the beneficiaries. It is sad to know that many from the B40 community do not have any idea on how to manage their finances at all, which makes them very vulnerable in a society with so much uncertainties. I am also surprised to find out many of them do not even have the opportunity to purchase their daily necessities from supermarkets, which sometimes offer better and cheaper food prices. Other than this, the Rakan Shopping Program also acts as an outreach program for GVCA to identify beneficiaries that might require further intervention or help. For example, the children from poor families who wish to continue their studies in tertiary education will have the opportunity to participate in the Didik-Kasih EduCare Program, which helps to relief the family’s burden as they will be receiving monthly study allowance during the course of the program.Didik-Kasih EduCare Program has helped many underprivileged children continue their tertiary studies instead of dropping out after Form 5 and becoming problematic youths. They are at such an innocent age, with high chances for them to be led into the wrong path that will destroy their life. Participants in the Didik-Kasih EduCare Program has the opportunity to learn how to give back to the society by planning and organising a charity event under their respective mentor’s guidance. And they will be the role model for their brothers and sisters, which makes them become a more mature and responsible young adult after they have successfully completed the program. The proudest moment will be how the participants have changed their life from at-risk youths to confident young adults with hopes and dreams. I hope many more can benefit from this program.Conclusion All programs under GVCA are meaningful and focus to solve society’s problems by bringing care, hopes, and dreams to the underprivileged. It requires support from everyone, including volunteers and donors, to make it successful and sustainable. Therefore, we hope to gather the support from everyone for this fundraising campaign, and to help us to share the campaign out so that more are aware of the meaningful programs run by GVCA.No one has ever become poor by giving. A fulfilled life can only be attained if one has utterly understood the meaning of giving. Wishing everyone the best of health and staying safe in this challenging time.Thank you.Warmest Regards, Peggy Chang