A total of 57 MSD Malaysia employees joined in the nationwide roll-out of Lend- A-Hand, a community outreach programme that aims to promote volunteerism amongst MSD employees. Held in March 2007, the company wide initiative saw employees from Penang, Malacca, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak and as well as Head Office from Petaling Jaya stepping out from their daily routine to spread a bit of cheer to six identified old folks homes from the respective states.    

Focused on providing support for the homes, the company organized a donation drive amongst employees to collect much needed essential items. Besides the employee donation drive, MSD Malaysia allocated some funds to provide additional items for the home and also gave the volunteers the day off to spend the day with the old folks. The occasion was apt as volunteers took this opportunity to bring some Chinese New Year festive cheer to the old folks and spent time interacting with the residence during the visit. "Lend-A-Hand program was a bright idea because it gave us MSD Malacca staff a chance to break from our work and spend quality time with the senior citizens... After talking and listening to some of them (old folks residents), I felt we all learnt not to take the simple things in life for granted", an experience shared by one of the volunteer - Martinian Lee    

The organizations which received assistance were:

• Selangor – Grace Home for Homeless and Destitute, Klang  
• Penang – Silver Jubilee Home For The Aged
• Perak – Rumah Sejahtera, Ipoh
• Malacca – Singam's Live & Life Care Centre
• Sarawak – Rumah Sri Kenangan, Kuching
• Sabah – Kinarut Old Folks Home, Papar

Mr. Ewe Kheng Huat, Managing Director of MSD Malaysia acknowledged, "The effort and support put in by our employees has been commendable as this allowed us to reach out to many more underprivileged people."

 

About MSD Malaysia's Lend-A-Hand The Lend-A-Hand program, launched in June 2006, is an umbrella for MSD Malaysia community and charitable activities, and is dedicated to establishing long-term commitments with organizations and causes that help make a difference in local communities. This community program allocates two Fridays in a year to give employees time off to focus on meeting society's needs by fostering volunteerism among employees.