KUANTAN: To ease the burden of flood victims in Pahang, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Foundation volunteers have been going to the ground to provide various forms of assistance.
The foundation received more than 30 tonnes of items including children's clothes, cleaning equipment, blankets, pillows, food supplies and cash donations worth some RM250,000 from well-wishers all over Malaysia.
Apart from helping households hit by the floods last month, members of the media, whose homes were inundated, also received aid.
UMP board of directors chairman Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman said he hoped the assistance can ease the burden of flood victims during these difficult times and help them get life back on track.
"UMP sympathises with the fate of the victims whose livelihoods are affected by the floods. The assistance demonstrates our concern for their wellbeing especially since the victims are forced to face the challenges from the floods and the threats posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"UMP's volunteers have travelled to various parts of the state to assist the flood victims with cleaning their homes and distributing assistance. We are doing our best to help," he said in a statement today.
Aziz, who is also UMP Foundation's board of trustees chairman, said 209 registered volunteers from UMP were deployed to clean flood-hit homes, schools and mosques in several districts.
"Due to the restricted movements resulted by Covid-19, the presence of the volunteers have allowed the process to distribute aid to be much smoother. Volunteers were constantly reminded to prioritise their safety at all times while helping on the ground and follow the standard operating procedures.
"Besides UMP Foundation, UMP Holdings and alumni were involved in assisting the victims. Under the UMPH Flood Relief Project: Together We Care programme, a total of 2,400 recipients received clean drinking water and hand sanitisers," he said.
At the height of the monsoon season last month, 10 districts were struck by floods, forcing some 26,000 people to be evacuated.