PETALING JAYA: The QI Group brought cheers to Pertubuhan Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti (PDK) Bersamamu Karak, a special needs school in Taman Karak Indah and three other locations in the Klang Valley which were all badly affected by the recent floods.
On hearing urgent calls for aid, the Group’s social impact initiative, RYTHM Foundation quickly coordinated a Flood Relief initiative, collecting almost RM40,000 from staff and management contributions within the QI Group.
“We organised a donation campaign to give everyone at QI an opportunity to contribute and help the affected flood victims,” said QI Malaysia CEO Boey Kho.
“The funds were used to supply the special needs school in Karak with essential physical therapy items, electrical appliances like a washing machine, fridge and computers, as well as furniture and cupboards to enable the school to continue serving its 35 students, ranging from 5 to 52 years of age.
“QI also collaborated with local NGO, Beyond Borders Malaysia, to distribute 1,000 care packs consisting of daily essential goods like food items, toiletries, sanitary pads, sanitisers, face masks and drinking water for adults and children in Puchong, KL and Hulu Langat.
“The Covid-19 pandemic had already badly affected a lot of lives and the floods now have further compounded the challenges that these people face. We hope that our small contribution has helped ease the burden of those affected.”
Pertubuhan Pemulihan Dalam Komuniti (PDK) Bersamamu Karak is the only special needs school of its kind in the Karak area. It provides physical therapy exercises, while also teaching basic and healthy living skills to its students. The Centre also helps to educate parents on how to better cope with their special needs child.
The Coordinator of the Centre, Pushpa said the devastation caused by the floods was unbelievable as their rented premises of eleven years and surrounding areas were in a complete mess. It came as a shock as it is the first time something like this has ever happened.
“I have no words to thank QI Group and RYTHM Foundation. Thank you for all the essential items that have arrived at our premises. All our furniture were covered with mud and soaked kitchen utensils were strewn all over the house with damaged electrical appliances and debris
on the floor. The flood waters here may have receded, but it ravaged our single-storey house destroying all the necessary equipment we need to teach and train our students.
“We thought it might take some time to put things back in order to cope with the aftermath of the unusual floods. But thanks to QI and RYTHM Foundation, we are now ready to get back on our feet,” said Pushpa.
The floods hit several housing settlements in Karak on Dec 17 and only receded on Dec 19. Inundated in about three-metre-deep murky water, the unprecedented major floods affected about 120 single-storey terrace houses in this residential area including the Community Rehab Centre which was badly damaged in the incident.
