Disabled children education centre gets donation from Imago Mall
KOTA KINABALU: The Education Centre for Disabled Children or Taman Didikan Kanak-Kanak Kurang Upaya (TDKKU), recently received an donation of RM92,732.90 from Imago Mall raised through its charity initiative in line with its ‘Once Upon A Dream’ Christmas event held in December last year.
The charity campaign, called ‘Hope Express’, involved going on a train ride inside the mall. Instead of charging a fare to take the ride, Imago Mall decided to let the public donate the ‘fare’.
Imago Mall passed on the whole collections from the donation box to a charitable organisation after every six months with the cost of operations borne entirely by Imago.
With this exemplary act of charity, Imago Shopping Mall, winner of two five-star awards at the International Property Awards competition this year, is hoping to create awareness of the less fortunate and bring hope to those who are in need of assistance and often neglected by society in general.
The train ride itself is a symbol of hope to remind us all to continue to dream in making the world a better place for everyone.
The ‘Hope Express’ is a pledge by Asian Pac and Imago to continue to make dreams come true and contribute back to the local society. For the first six months (from December 2016 until June 2017) ‘Hope Express’ managed to collect RM92,732.90 in total, and the whole amount was given to a chosen organization.
Chairman of Asian Pac Holdings Berhad, Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas, who personally handed over the donation, said the train ride aimed to bring greater awareness to those who have special needs.
“Hopefully, we can help them realise their dreams in a small way. Instead of charging a fixed fare for the ride, the public decide themselves on the fare to be donated as they journey together with Imago to bring hope,” he said, adding that Imago will then pass on the whole fare collected to a charitable organisation.
“TDKKU is a charitable organisation that focuses on helping children with disabilities and the aim is to make them live their lives like normal children, to make them feel like they are home.
“The people who work in TDKKU are full of love and care for these children. We hope the donations raised from ‘Hope Express will be able to give them the extra help that they need.
“Over the coming six months, ‘Hope Express’ will be moving on to its second destination, Seri Mengasih. As the train restarts its journey, we will also witness the handing over of the keys of the train from TDKKU to Seri Mengasih, as ‘Hope Express’ goes on a new journey, continuing to give hope and realising dreams.
“As stated before, 100 percent of the ‘fare’ collected will be donated to Seri Mengasih when the train reaches its destination on December 31, 2017. The ‘Hope Express’ is a long-term pledge by Asian Pac Holdings Berhad, through Imago Shopping Mall, and is part of our sustainability initiatives.
“We hope the public will continue to support this charitable cause, so that handin-hand, we can continue to make dreams come true. Let us restart the engine, ring the bell, board the train, and ride on in this journey that is blessed with hope and promise,” he concluded.
Also present during the event which was held at the mall was the founder of Seri Mengasih, Datuk Safari Manan.