By Foo Ming Li
The Covid-19 pandemic has no doubt affected everyone’s daily life around the world. Some charity organisations, orphanages, and old folks’ homes in Penang are greatly affected by the pandemic while others are fortunate to have the means to undergo this testing time.
Charity Foundation Association of Penang (CFAP) President, Alagesan Ayaru said the donation funds have decreased approximately 30 to 40 percent as the major donors themselves have lost their source of income and are facing critical financial issues during the pandemic.
“CFAP was established by a group of entrepreneurs and professionals as a multi-racial non-government organisation to serve and develop the Penang community. Hence, the charity association is fully dependent on public donations, however, it sees a huge decrease from the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.
Currently, the community members of the charity association are organising a fundraising event down the road to sustain their monthly operating costs such as the rental fees, utility fees, and the salary of the kindergarten and tuition centre teachers of the charity association which can cost up to between RM13,000 to RM15,000.
Ayaru said donors who are interested in donating food or daily necessities are welcomed to give a phone call to CFAP for enquiries to identify the most needed items by the charity association.
“For donors from other states, they can pack their donated items in a box and sanitise it before sending it to the centre,” he said.
Besides that, St. Joseph’s Home Board Member, Iruthaaya Das said the orphanage is fortunate to have enough donation funds to survive in the pandemic despite the 15 to 20 percent donation funds reduction compared to last year.
“St. Joseph’s Home was also fortunate to receive some allocations from the Penang state government during the pandemic, while the federal government award grants for the orphanage to continue its operation,” he said.
Das said the fishmongers and vegetable sellers from the nearby market donate the leftovers to the orphanage during the MCO period because most of the groceries remain unsold at these vendors.
Even though St. Joseph’s Home was fortunate to receive many donations from the public, Das said the management will ensure that it finishes the earlier donated food before replenishing their stockpile.
Lastly, Manager of Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged, Lee Mui Cheng said, there is a significant decrease of 60 percent in donation funds alone from January 2019 to April 2020 due to the pandemic earlier this year.
In the midst of the pandemic, she said the old folks’ home management tries to reduce its overhead costs by, for example, changing the fluorescent lights to LED lights that greatly reduces the electricity bill.
“Apart from that, depending on the number of staff in every department of Silver Home for the Aged, we decided not to renew some of our volunteer’s contracts as the majority of them are retirees,” Lee said.
As for donating in kind, Lee said the old folks’ homes are accepting donations of daily items like food items, toiletries or bathroom products, kitchen sundries, and medical supplies. She adds some donors from other states purchase the items online and deliver them to the home.
“The donors from other states would call us for enquiries on what items need to be donate and they will purchase the items on Tesco online then deliver the goods to the old folks’ home as they could not travel from state to state,” she said.
For people who have enquiries on how to donate funds or daily necessities, they can contact CFAP (04-6119018), St. Joseph’s Home (04-2635418), and Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged (04-6447942).
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