Monday, December 20, 2010

Elim Gospel Hall blesses poor single parents





With the economy getting worse by the day, finance remains a big headache for many a poor single parents and when December comes around, the issue becomes a nagging problem. Why? Well single parents first have to feed their hungry hordes of kids, secondly they have to find the cash to buy new school items – school bag, books, uniforms, shoes, socks, even track suits in some cases – and all those require cash.

Realising this, Elim Gospel Hall in Ipoh organized a fund raising dinner with veteran singer Fong Pei Pei to help raise additional cash for poor single parents under PWP/Jumble Station’s care. Lim Lian See and Mary Anne, made the trek up north for this very special event and arrived just in time despite not being familiar with the route.

The dinner itself was held at a local seafood restaurant where some 51 tables were all taken up by church members, their supporters and family members. A 15 member choir kicked off with a Chinese rendition of Christmas carols followed by a speech by David Ho of Hovid Bhd who also heads the Professional Youth Fellowship (PYF) organisation up in Ipoh.

Mary Anne was then invited to share a little about what PWP has been doing to assist poor single parents and her speech was simultaneously translated for the benefit of the mostly Chinese listeners. After that, a cheque presentation for RM18,000 was handed over to Mary Anne by David Ho but sadly the picture could not be taken because the guy who was entrusted with the task of photographing the historic moment, forgot to switch on the camera and couldn’t understand why the camera would not function!

Meanwhile the guests tucked into the delicious Chinese course dinner while the veteran singer crooned her way into the hearts of her faithful supporters who listened and watched with rapt attention. Unfortunately, we had to rush out of the concert hall because Lian See’s handbag was snatched by a motorcyclist and we had to take her to the police station to make a report. Except for this one inconvenience, the Ipoh outing was a great success and we would like to thank God for kind and compassionate souls like Elim Gospel Hall members for reaching out to our single parents in need.

Once again a very “Big Thank You” for all those who made this event so successful and memorable.

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