RM35,000 Raised Leaves a PERMAnent Impression on Children Across Selangor

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With the world under lockdown and Santa being unable to cross borders, the Christmas of 2020 didn’t look like it was going to be as bright and cheerful as any of its predecessors. Children in Selangor would have to spend their Christmases stuck indoors, with none of the joy and excitement a normal holiday season would bring, or so it seemed. But PERMA had just the project to save 2020’s Christmas. If you don’t already know, PERMA stands for Persekutuan Perkhidmatan Masyarakat Ceylonese Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan (Ceylonese Social Services Federation Selangor and Federal Territory), and as an organization, they have undertaken projects designed to assist the elderly, underprivileged and physically challenged in Malaysia.

Faces of PERMA leading the Christmas Cheer distributions (from left to right): Ms Visahini Ganeson, Ms Vimala Sivanoli, Ms Indira Somasundram, Jaan Joseph, and Ms Sumithra V. Ananthan.

This year, PERMA conducted their very own Christmas Cheer Project, with the goal of delivering bags of presents and gift boxes to orphanages and children’s homes across the state. Through hard work and support from the community, PERMA managed to amass a total of RM35,000 through five rounds of donations on GiveBACk.my, and were able to gather enough gifts and bags in just two weeks.

Bags and bags for the children, prepared by PERMA for distribution.  (credit: Moo Tik Pin)

Look at all those bags!  (source: PERMA on Facebook)

Gift boxes for the children prepared by PERMA.  (source: PERMA on Facebook)

What’s inside the box? (source: PERMA on Facebook)

Each bag contained RM100 worth of gifts in them, sorted according to various age groups. With the help of BAC Education Group’s two transport vehicles and several helpers, the gifts were delivered to nine homes including the Home of Peace, Refuge for Refugees, and Rumah Jaireh. Along with them, the homes were hand-delivered a huge box filled with books and games that were sure to add some extra joy to the holidays. In the end, a total of 304 children received the bags on Christmas day and were left with the cheeriest smiles on their faces.

Two helpers loading gifts into BAC Education Group‘s transport vehicle.  (credit: Moo Tik Pin)

A boy happily collecting the gift bags at Destiny Starting Point Welfare Association in Klang. (credit: Moo Tik Pin)

Everyone involved in the project were extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to help so many children, especially during this season of giving.

Ms. Indira, PERMA committee member and leader of the Christmas Cheer Project.  (credit: Moo Tik Pin)

We interviewed Ms. Indira, a committee member of PERMA and leader of the event, who gave some insights on the project and PERMA’s purpose as an organisation. “PERMA has been around for over 40 years, and we’ve been able to help many homes around Wilayah Persekutuan and Selangor. This time we were able to give them Christmas gifts, but in future, we plan on doing more projects that will hopefully help children stand on their own two feet and become more independent, rather than having to rely on someone.”

Though the season of giving is now coming to a close, the spirit of generosity will never leave the hearts of PERMA. They will continue to help and support as many people as they can – driven by the smiles that they left behind.