LANGKAWI: The Malaysian Artistes' Association (Karyawan) today donated RM5,000 to the Langkawi Autism Care Centre to help with its daily operations.
Karyawan chairman Datuk Khadijah Ibrahim said: "We hope the assistance will help the daily operations of the centre continue uninterrupted, thereby safeguarding the educational welfare of these special children."
The centre was set up four years ago and currently cares for 45 children with autism.
"Karyawan does not limit charitable assistance to only artistes. We also organised readings of yasin and tahlil for the late entertainment journalist, Kamal Huzaini Kamaludin.
"We have also assisted many makeup artists, photographers, and dance designers," she said.
Khadijah said the donation to the centre was part of RM100,000 raised through "The Legends Charity Dinner" concert at Dewan Perdana Felda on June 2.
"The charity concert will continue in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on Nov 1 with the hope of raising more funds to enable assistance to be distributed to the needy in the country," she said.
The autism centre's manager, Mastura Abdul Mutalib, said the contribution by Karyawan was much appreciated.
"It means a lot to us. We will use it to pay for rent, staff salaries, and to buy learning materials for the autistic children," she said.