Foundation comes to the aid of fire victims

KUCHING: Student Volunteers Foundation Malaysia (YSS) has launched a fundraising campaign to help the 30 families of a longhouse at Batu Lintang, Sri Aman, that was razed by fire on June 29.

The initiative was started to help Leo Mixsbobic Edwin, who was one of the foundation’s active volunteers.

The victims, 71 adults and 32 children, are currently put up in tents set up by the Fire and Rescue Department, while some have moved in with relatives.

“Our hearts go out to our YSSAlumni Leo, whose family and extended family lost everything when Rh Siliver Garik burnt down during the Raya holidays.

“Under our YSS Crisis and Disaster Management Cluster Initiatives, we set up a fundraising campaign, Derma Kilat YSS or emergency donation,” YSS chairman Datuk Zuraidah Atan said in a statement.

She said Leo was one of the foundation’s most active student volunteers, having participated in both local and Asean students volunteer missions. He was in Vietnam for a month under the Green Summer Volunteer Campaign in 2015.

Leo was selected as a liaison officer for the Asean Summit that year as a minder to former US president Barack Obama during his visit. Leo is doing nursing at UniKL Royal College of Medicine in Perak.

He was also a management trainee at the YSS volunteer headquarters for a few months last year during his study break.

“Please let us join hands in helping Leo, his mother and grandmother, including his extended family of Rh Siliver Garik longhouse, in their hour of need,” Zuraidah said.

The public can donate towards Leo and his family via Yayasan Sukarelawan Siswa’s Maybank account 5660 1055 5954.

Once the contribution has been made, donors can notify YSS at its hotline at 019-2436651, its headquarters in Putrajaya at 03-8870 6123, Ahmad Hanif at 014-5322773 or Fazira at 019-4989093, and be issued with tax-exempt receipts.