15 Children Get RM350,000 for Heart Surgery from he Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR PRESENTS RM350,000 TO 15 CHILDREN FOR HEART SURGERY

Kuala Lumpur, – Fifteen children with severe heart ailments and 80 children with special needs from two homes made it an evening to remember at the ‘Embrace the Gift of Life’ Buka Puasa Charity Dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 9 July.

The occasion was to present cheques totalling RM350,000 to the 15 children so that they could undergo immediate heart surgery. Mr Manfred Weber, General Manager of Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, handed the cheques to the parents of the children.

He also presented cheques of RM10,000 each to two homes for children with special needs -- Tasputra Perkim and Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-Kanak Cacat Taman Megah.

A “special” guest at the event was Nor Fatihah Sewah, 19, who came with her physically challenged parents. Nor Fatihah was born without legs and was “adopted” by the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, when she was 3 years old. The hotel also pledged to look after her needs till she is 21.

Supported by the hotel, she was fitted with prosthetic limbs, which have since been changed three times as she grew up. She walked into the hotel for the Buka Puasa Charity Dinner, pushing her mother who was in a wheelchair.

  

Nor Fatihah, who has passed her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), was also offered a job with the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

The funds for this charity event were raised through the Christmas Charity Tree 2014 which brought in RM150,000, with a contribution from the hotel to make up RM350,000.

“Funds collected are paid directly to the hospitals so that the children can be operated on without delay, cutting all the red tape,” said Mr Weber.

Together with Dato’ Rosemarie Wee, Area Director of Communications, he also presented duit raya and goodie bags to the children. The children were treated to a lavish festive spread specially prepared by the hotel to mark the occasion.

Since 1985, the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur has been organising an annual charity project to raise funds for children who suffer from heart ailments and need urgent surgery.

It has since raised more than RM3 million and helped hundreds of critically ill children.

From 1999 the hotel’s “Embrace Gift of Life” charity has taken the form of a giant Christmas Charity Tree with a unique theme each year. In 2014, the tree had the theme -- Merry Nutcracker Joy Ride. Splendid sugarpieces of Nutcracker soldiers and trains, made by the hotel’s pastry artists, were stacked up on a 10-tier conical steel structure to form the 12-foot-tall Christmas Tree. The sugarpieces were for sponsorship by donors, each for a minimum donation of RM1,000/-.

This Christmas Charity Tree raised a total of RM150,000 from guests and employees. Together with the Hotel’s own CSR funds, the hotel is able to help 15 children to undergo surgery.