Melaka, 9 December 2017

Malaysian AEON Foundation (MAF), through its recent Joy of Christmas 2017 community outreach initiative, spread good cheer to 135 children and 6 single-parent families from local underprivileged groups of the Portuguese Settlement, and Church of St Theresa.

The event took place at AEON Mall Bandaraya Melaka, and was able to donate more than RM56,000. It was also supported by the assistance of 67 volunteers across AEON Group Malaysia and the public.

Dato’ Abdullah bin Mohd Yusof, President of MAF, shared, “According to the carols, this is the season to be jolly, but the reality is, some just don’t have the luxury to bask in the festivity, especially when every day is a struggle to make ends meet. Dedicated to change that, we set up the annual Joy of Christmas initiative in 2004 to bring happiness to the children. We want to give them that respite from their daily lives, and ultimately, to just be children and have a reason to smile like everyone else.”

With that in mind, the event proved to be a fun day out jam-packed with activities, kickstarting with a shopping spree for Christmas clothes, each child received RM200 to spend on their outfits. Following that, all the children and single parents were treated to a finger-licking-good lunch at the Restaurant Arena, before moving on to an exclusive screening of Coco—complete with drinks and popcorn, of course, courtesy of Golden Screen Cinemas.

Shopping, food, and movie however, weren’t the only items on the agenda for the day. There were goodies to be taken home too. In a bid to help relieve their financial constraints, each family walked home with a bag containing daily necessities worth RM100, while angpows were also handed out—RM200 each for the single parents, and RM50 each for the little ones.

The joyous occasion then culminated with the handing over of donations worth RM10,000 each to the Portuguese Settlement and the Church of St Theresa.