For many years I have been supporting Yayasan Chow Kit, which is a 24-hour crisis and drop-in centre. It provides meals, activities, therapy, case management, and educational programmes for at-risk children of Chow Kit. I have been to visit their centre in the heart of Chow Kit. I am impressed with their values and I join them in upholding a respect for children’s rights and recognize that all children are born free and equal in dignity and rights regardless of race, religion, gender, ability, age, and socio-cultural status.
Now in the right hand column of this blog, you will find a link to their donation page. Anything you with to donate goes straight to Yayasan Chow Kit, in full. It does not pass through my hands at all.
Yayasan Chow Kit is a registered charity. They will give you a receipt you can use for tax relief for every donation you make to them.
I first started supporting Yayasan Chow Kit when they were first called Rumah Nur Salam.
Here is a little history of them, written by their founder, Tini Zainuddin.
NurSalam was born out of a need to help and protect the children in and around Chow Kit, who were vulnerable and marginalized. The 3 of us- Raja Azizan and Kak Arfidah, who were married and lived in the area, had worked with the children there for a long, long time and by the time I came to volunteer in 2005, they knew what the children needed most- a bigger space where very poor and marginalized children could seek refuge, even if it was, for a couple of hours a day, eat and sleep and get involved with basic educational and health activities. The three of us put our heads together, and hatched a plan to find this bigger space.
We partnered with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and the Wilayah Social Department and then engaged with other individuals and corporate bodies and NGO partners. We looked for funding- we asked, begged and did everything ourselves. It was a tough, uphill battle when we first started but we kept at it! The rest, is history!
In 2011 my Lagenda Hookahs team in the Merdeka League played with the Rumah Nur Salam logo on our shirts. My team-mates Jennifer Too, Dato’ David Morais and Julian Sagarna, and I invited Nur Salam to send some kids to the final at Bukit Kiara. We gave them a lunch and brought some celebrities to meet them. Inspired by their presence, Lagenda Hookahs won the tournament.
Since then, I have organised Hookahs Charity Quiz Nites at the Royal Selangor Polo Club, almost every year. The profits from these quiz nights all go to Yayasan Chow Kit.
This month of Ramadan is a good time for anyone who wishes to make a donation to charity. Yayasan Chow Kit is truly a worthy cause.
I hope you will join me in making a donation to them.
