Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, 16 June 2019 

In conjunction with its 15th anniversary, the Malaysian AEON Foundation will be organising its first Charity Run & Ride this Sunday, 16th June at the AEON Mall in Nilai. The charity event, which kicked-off at 6:30 am, saw the participation of over 800 individuals with the support of friends and families.

The AEON Charity Run & Ride 2019 is divided into two categories, the 6KM Run and the 18KM Bike Ride. Participants have the opportunity to either run or ride while contributing towards a specific cause to support the educational, medical and/or the communal needs of the underprivileged. Experienced and amateur runners participated in this community event which is open to the public and members of the AEON Group.

Three charity organisation have been identified and individuals are able to select their preferred charity group which they would like to run or cycle to support. Participants can match their preferred choice based on any colours. Green colour has been identified for education, whereby funds will be channelled towards the education of underprivileged school children. Pink colour is for medical purpose and it will be contributed to those who cannot afford healthcare while blue is for community, where it will be used to enhance the quality of life of the Orang Asli community, orphanages, old folks home and marginalised families.

YAB Dato’ Seri Haji Aminuddin bin Harun, Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan was present at the event. He was accompanied by YBhg Datin Yasmin Ahmad Merican, President of the Malaysian AEON Foundation (MAF), Mr. Shinobu Washizawa, Vice President of the Malaysian AEON Foundation (MAF), who is also the Managing Director of AEON CO. (M) BHD. and Datuk Iskandar bin Sarudin, Chairman of AEON CO. (M) BHD.

YBhg Datin Yasmin Ahmad Merican, President of the MAF said, “In the past, our Foundation activities have focused on traditional means of raising funds for the underprivileged. This year we decided to do something different where we combined a popular community sports activity with the spirit of giving to the charity of respective choice.

“Participants will know where their contributions are channelled to and the significance of their donation to the lives of recipients. Through this approach in matching individual donations with the target charities of personal interest, we hope that the first of this annual event would attract more Malaysians to participate each year. They will be supporting the educational, medical or community needs of their specific charities not just once, but continuously in the future,” concluded YBhg Datin Yasmin.

Besides the charity Run & Ride, participants and families were treated to a special entertainment by an all-girl band, De Fam; interactive games; face-painting and lucky draws.

Since 2004, the Malaysian AEON Foundation has donated more than RM 11 million, contributing to numerous charities in education, health, disaster relief and the needs of marginalised communities in Malaysia. This was made possible through the overwhelming support from AEON’s business alliances and the public.