For a good cause
Money from her charity shop goes towards helping orphans and single mums
Mother of five donates part of the proceeds from her charity shop to single mums, orphans and the homeless.
JOHOR BARU: For over a decade Siti Sariah Sariman, 62, has been helping the less fortunate with funds she gets from a charity shop at the Danga City Mall shopping complex.
The mother of five daughters said she finds joy in giving without expecting anything in return.
Her shop’s tagline is “donate while buying” with 30% of all proceeds being used to help 29 orphans, 10 single mothers and five homeless people.
The items including books, clothing, small electrical items and Coca Cola paraphernalia are priced between RM5 and RM1,000.
Apart from donated items, she has also stocked the shop with goods she personally buys from owners who no longer needed them.
“I’m fortunate as there are so many generous Malaysians and foreigners out there who donated items for my shop,” she said during an interview on Thursday.
The money from the shop’s sales, she said, is used for the education and medical expenses of orphans besides helping single mothers start home-based businesses.
“My husband and I had always emphasised the importance of education for our own children and we didn’t want the orphans to be deprived of it,” she said.
While Siti takes care of the shop from 11am to 5.30pm daily, her husband, retired businessman Mohd Sufian Chay, 68, is also busy.
His routine starts as early as 6am ferrying the orphans living in Taman Mutiara and PPR Sri Stulang to their schools and back.
Siti said they were glad to be able to ease the burden of the less fortunate.
The smiles on their faces is enough reward, she said.
Her charity shop is located at L4-42, Danga City Mall, Johor Baru.
She can be contacted at 017-711 7727 or 018-388 7727 or email: sitisariah55@gmail.com.