Miri Marriott Resort & Spa fulfils festive wishes of 408 children

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WE CARE: Hinderer (fourth left) hands over a voucher’s replica for a 4-day-3-night stay at Miri Marriot to a cancer patient, Nasrullah Nazri, in a gesture of festive sharing.

MIRI: The festive wishes of 408 special children and orphans here for new apparels, educational books, toys, school supplies and other gifts were fulfilled yesterday.

Miri Marriott Resort & Spa led by their general manager, Marcel Hinderer, made visits and distributed the gifts worth over RM10,000 to the children of daycare centres, orphanages and schools for special children yesterday and on Wednesday.

The beneficiaries were MRCS Sunflower Centre, Community-based Rehabilitation Centre (PDK), The National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom), Miri Hospital, Miri Methodist Home, Sarawak Children Cancer Society (SCCS) Miri and Persatuan Penyayang Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Miri (PPKKIM).

A cash donation of RM6,000 was distributed to the Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Malaysia (Clapam), Miri branch.

The gifts were donated by generous resort guests and the public during the ‘Christmas Wish Tree’ and ‘Face the World with a Smile’ charity campaigns organised by the hotel during the festive season from Dec 1-31 last year.

The campaigns attracted an overwhelming response from locals and foreign holiday goers, and over 70 per cent of the children were givengifts or cash.

Some of the gifts and cash were received from donors staying in Kuala Lumpur.

“Thanks to a few veteran Twitters and associates who have helped us to spread the news via Twitter and Miri Marriott Facebook. Every single contribution counts as it has helped put a smile to the children and their families,” said Hinderer.

He added although organising the campaigns involved a lot of dedication from their staff, it was well worth it given the awesome support received from everyone and seeing the happiness on the children’s faces upon receiving the gifts.

He also thanked Daily Food Supply Centre (Miri), Jong Kiam Mui, Borneo Food Land Cold Storage, Liang Hua Printing, Lensin Printing, East Coast Fishery and Syarikat Kai Nguong Nursery for their contributions towards the project.

The ‘Christmas Wish Tree Project’, held following the success of the inaugural project in 2006, involved the hanging of 408 colourful cards with photographs of special children, orphans and children from underprivileged families on a 12-foot Christmas tree for good Samaritan resort guests and members of the public to sponsor the children’s wishes or also make cash donations to the children’s respective establishments.

Concurrently, the ‘Face the World with a Smile’ campaign was also launched, marking its fourth successful year with Miri Marriott’s charity events.

It was in support of the children under the Cleft Lip and Palate Association Malaysia (Clapam), Miri branch, to realise their wishes to receive corrective surgery for cleft lip, palate or both.

The two campaigns were launched last month by Datuk Lee Kim Shin together with Hinderer and witnessed by representatives from the participating charitable organisations, resort guests, members of the press and associates of the resort.

The children’s wishes were collected from their teachers and caretakers a month prior to the launch while children from Sarawak Children Cancer Society (SCCS) were interviewed to ask about their wish gifts for the festive season during the Golden Child Camp held in November last year.