A place of Hope for Sarawak’s needy

Good deeds: Wan (second from right) and staff posing with the mock cheque from Star Foundation.

KUCHING: True to its motto of giving hope and touching lives, Hope Place delivers food and necessities to poor and needy families in Kuching.

The Sarawak-based charitable organisation has helped hundreds of families since it was set up in 2013.

“We currently support 195 families. We assess them yearly to see if they still need our help.

“We deliver about RM40,000 worth of food supplies and necessities to the families we support each month, ” Hope Place founder Kelvin Wan said after receiving a cheque for RM30,000 from Star Foundation.

He said many of these families had members who were elderly, disabled or ill, as well as single parents struggling to make ends meet.

“We work with the Sarawak General Hospital’s social workers to provide food and nutritional formula to cancer patients.

“We also work closely with Hospital Sentosa (a psychiatric hospital) to assist needy patients. They take us to visit them and we are now helping about 20 families, ” he said.

Calling for more community support for the mentally ill, he said they were often neglected by society.

“We need more people to show kindness to this group and help them find employment, ” he said.

Besides assisting families in Kuching, Hope Place organises annual charity expeditions with the Bintulu 4x4 Club to remote villages in Sarawak.

“We just returned from our latest Charity Without Borders trip. This time, we went to the Penan villages of Long Telepe Urun, Apau Nyaring and Long Liaw in Ulu Tinjar, Baram.

“It was our toughest trip so far because four bridges along the way were broken due to bad weather but we were able to repair two of them, ” Wan said.

He said volunteers on the trip delivered about six months’ worth of food and daily necessities to the villagers, along with Christmas gifts for the children.

To raise awareness on the needy in society, Wan gives talks in schools, higher learning institutions and companies.

“Young people nowadays don’t know what it means to live without electricity and water. It’s important to build awareness in the next generation that there are needy people around us who need our help, ” he said.

Star Foundation is the charitable arm of Star Media Group aimed at delivering meaningful initiatives with lasting outcomes to a diverse group of beneficiaries.

For more information, visit starfoundation.com.my