FOR FUNDRAISING: Dr Abdul Rauf (second left) hands over the Jog-A-Thon card to Fatimah in the presence of (from first left) Chou, administrative officer Ida Chen, Abdul Karim and Titus Chuo.

KUCHING: A large scale fundraising programme involving all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) organised by the Ministry of Welfare, Women and Family Development will be held in October, among which the objectives are to promote a caring society and recruit new volunteers.

Its minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said the ‘Sarawak Volunteers Walk of Love; We Care, We Share’ is expected to be held on October 6, where each NGO will carry out its own fundraising activity.

She explained that the event was also to create awareness among the public on NGOs, especially the new ones.

“We will finalise the date of the event, the route for the walk and the activities for the day by this month. We will have a media session for this event.

“Most importantly, we want to inculcate a caring and loving society to help the needy and underprivileged. We also want to inculcate the family spirit of caring and sharing as well as create awareness on NGOs existence in our society. I understand there are new NGOs which many people have not heard of, such as the Wishesland to help the Cerebral Palsy group,” she said.

She said this during a courtesy call from the Malaysian Red Crescent Kuching Chapter at her office in Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Petra Jaya on Tuesday.

The purpose of the visit was to hand over the chapter’s ‘Jog-A-Thon’ card to Fatimah in support of their fundraising activity to be held on Oct 28.

Those present included the chapter’s chairman Datuk Dr Abang Abdul Rauf Abang Zain, advisor Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg, fundraising chairman Titus Chuo and his deputy Dr Chou Chii Ming.

Fatimah said it was important that people support fundraising activities like the MRCS Kuching Chapter’s jogathon and the Walk of Love to ensure their success.

“Every NGO needs some funds to carry out their charity activities, and this depends a lot on the public’s support. It does not matter how much they give or contribute, but it is the loving and caring spirit that we want to see. In addition, we also want to promote healthy lifestyle through the jogathon and Walk Of Love activities,” she said.

According to Abdul Rauf, the chapter collected between RM80,000 and RM100,000 through its yearly jogathon for

its anchor fund and raise between RM100,000 and RM150,000 yearly from public donation through its various fundraising activities.

“We encourage the community to give whatever they can, whether is 20 sen or 10 sen, because every amount they contribute will add up to our fund, which will help us to carry out charity activities,” he said.

He explained that NGOs like MRCS Kuching Chapter did not depend on government assistance and grant but public support.