Christmas with the YWCA PJ

Christmas is coming...the goose is getting fat, please put a ringgit in the old lady's hat, if you haven't got a ringgit, 50sen will do, if you haven't got that too, then God Bless U!

Christmas came a little early for our single parents kids this year with the YWCA of Section 20 PJ hosting a party for 30 of our little ones. The Genesis United (Gen2) Cell Group members were on hand to sing some Christmas carols to inject the lively Christmas spirit followed soon after by a clown performance.

The clown who doubled up as a magician caught the rapt attention of the little ones with his slick sleight of hand tricks from turning a straight magic wand into a lifeless piece of stick to the release of a pigeon after first dousing the pan with a ring of fire! Probably the most captivating act was that of delivering a cute little bunny from his seemingly empty bag and it had all the kids clamouring to pat the little bunny!

President Kemmy (pix) and her team did a superb job with the goodie bags, the food and the spirit of camaraderie that pervaded the YWCA house where the party was held. For sure the kids had a terrific time and for many it was their first ever introduction to what joys Christmas can bring and what it means to many of us, the more privileged ones.

And lest we forget.....A Very BLESSED CHRISTMAS to everyone from us folks at JUMBLE STATION.

Movie Magic

By Mary Anne Tan
It’s been quite a while since we went out to the movie theatre, with DVDs being so cheap and all but still nothing beats the thrill of being seated in a plush cinema complete with sen-surround system to hear even the smallest whisper.

Recently, Golden Screen Cinema on the 3rd floor of Summit Shopping Centre played the generous host to some single parents kids and kids from underprivileged backgrounds. The original plan was for around 30 kids to be invited to see “Cloudy with a touch of meatball” but since school was still on, it was really difficult trying to meet the expected target.

Several homes that Lian See had originally invited pulled out at the eleventh hour for personal reasons and left us at Jumble Station really flat footed. We eventually managed to get some 16 children and 5 adults to show up for the show and boy, what a thrill it was.

The kids who woke up early and had to skip breakfast were treated to a relatively delightful breakfast of mee siam, sausages, nuggets, cakes and drinks by Chatterbox. The Malay children mingled easily with the Indian kids as they happily got to know each other through the impromptu games we had while waiting for the GSC to open its screen doors.

Our hosts David from chatterbox, Nelson and Thomas from GSC were more than happy to have their photos taken with the irrepressible youngsters who took the opportunity to ape legendary pop idol Michael Jackson in his classic pose – one hand tipping his hat forward, the other stretched straight out or the other one with their feet crossed over and their hands outstretched over their heads.

For single mother Nisha it was her first time ever in a cinema and she’s already 25years old now. Many other children were also overawed with the cavernous auditorium, the darkness they were plunged into and the air conditioning! However, once the screen came alive with the antics of Flint the wacky inventor, the chill factor went out and the laughter set in. By the end of the movie, the little ones came out with huge smiles and willingly admitted that they had thoroughly enjoyed the entire event.

So a great big thank you to David of Chatterbox for keeping our little ones tummies filled and to the GSC staff for making time for the less privileged and bringing joy and laughter into their normally drab lives. GSC has said they plan to do this again and we’re looking forward to bringing more fun and happiness into single parents and their kids lives once again! Will our kids get a chance at seeing The Frog and the Princess next????

Parents without Partners and Jumble Station its recycle arm - are singularly focused on helping single parents in need. If you have items (we take all except plants and animals) to donate, SMS or call Anne 016-2202958.

A 'cool gift' for new single dad

Hasrun Manaf became a single father recently when his wife who has been working in Johore Baru for the last 2 years, demanded her freedom in August, just days before Hari Raya. He got custody of his eldest son Md Harith Hamizan, 9 years and Md Harith Haikal, 7 years while his youngest son 5, is still being cared for by his wife's mother in Johore.

For Hasrun or Yun as he is more commonly known around Angsana Flats, this has been a particularly painful period, one that he was ill prepared for and still struggling to come to terms with. For one, he is realising just how difficult it is to be a single father and be the sole provider for his growing boys. Yun’s take home pay as a lorry driver is only RM1,000 a month and of this he has to pay RM380 for his flat, leaving the balance of RM680 to survive till the next payday.

Now, although his youngest son is with the grandmother, under the syariah law, he is still committed to sending RM100 a month for his son’s upkeep. Fortunately for Yun, Jumble Station has been a real blessing to him in two ways – giving him groceries (rice, oil, biscuits, Milo etc) each month and enabling him to earn extra income on weekends and holidays.

See he was already helping us out way before he became a single father – he’d been assisting us with the transporting and collecting of items from the homes of the various donors and had been paid RM100 – RM120 each time, so aiding him as a single father was a natural extension.

His willingness to assist – going to as many as 5-6 houses in a day, usually a Sunday or a public holiday - without demanding to be paid for every house he goes to has enabled Jumble Station to save lots while still offering a great service for those willing to let go bulky items without having to pay for the disposal of the items themselves.

More recently however, Yun faced a terrible setback. With only RM20 left and two weeks before his next pay day, Yun happilyy help us out and received RM100 from jumble station for his efforts, despite being sick with a bad cold. While returning from Puchong he was stopped by police and asked to show his IC. Feeling very unwell, he uncharacteristically handed over his entire wallet with the newly earned RM100 to the policeman. When he got home, he discovered to his horror that the RM100 was missing from his wallet! Yun was bitterly crushed – he had promised to bank in RM100 to his ex-wife so she could buy milk and other items for their youngest son but now the RM100 was missing!

When JS learnt of this we immediately banked in RM100 into his ex-wife’s account and donated another RM100 for him to survive till the next pay day or till his next item collection event. Yun, normally a very quiet and private chap was in tears. He later SMSed this message “ Terima Kasih Sis - God Bless You!”

More recently, Yun was further blessed when he received a brand new Samsung refrigerator to replace his old one that was malfunctioning – it was no longer cool, the door was off its hinges and it was guzzling lots of electricity to boot!

Yoga and Kevala practitioner Sharmini and her group of yoga students spontaneously got together to raise the funds needed to help poor single parents when they learnt about Jumble Station’s efforts to help single parents in need. They went out and purchased a fridge from Tesco and no one could be more pleased than this deservingly helpful single father.

For a single parent, willing to ‘fish’ for himself instead of just waiting for handouts, this is truly a ‘cool treat, a super cool incentive’ indeed to help out others and be blessed in return! If Yun could, he’d SMS this same message to all you kind yoga folks out at Sharmini’s class - “Terima Kasih - God Bless You .. All” As it is, his smile says it best!

Seeking gift givers...

Frens, Jumble Station will be organising a number of activities in the month of December to celebrate Christmas and the coming new year/ school term of 2010. First off we're planning a Christmas party for 30 children of single parents on December 9 together with the YWCA and it would be great if some people out there with nice toys or stationery items could donate it to us to be giftwrapped for this party. The YWCA will take care of the makan but gifts and carol singing will be our responsibility ... singing carols is no problem but finding the nice gifts that's our challenge so anyone out there who's got nice toys to give away.. here's your chance to bring smiles to the little ones.
Also on Dec 1 we will be having a free medical camp for single parents and the poor folks at Lembah Subang from 9am-2pm and since its a Tuesday, we need to have some free gift items to attract folks to attend the medical clinic - anyone have door gifts as inducement to ensure we get the 300 people expected?

Come January 3 2010 we will be having a Back-to-School party for single parents and their kids where we plan to give them a new school bag, uniform, a pair of shoes, socks and stationery for the new school term - some 200 are expected and we've already got 100 girls primary uniform but we'll need boys' primary uniforms and a few baju kurung uniforms as well.

So if anyone knows of anyone who can help donate or get us the uniforms cheaply made, just give us a holler or SMS 016-2202958 Anne.

Joyfully enjoyable at Jaya33

Jumble Station was given the opportunity to promote PWP to the office workers and shoppers at Jaya33 recently. Naturally we jumped at this chance to try out a new location especially since the management of Jaya33 was kind enough to offer it to us for free.

So from last Thursday to Sunday, we turned up right on the dot or earlier and proceeded to promote both our mission and our donated items. We brought along an assortment of items, not knowing what would attract the buying crowd and took great pains to chat about PWP and how single parents are being assisted in their hour of need.

Of course there were many other traders there on the concourse as well but JS was the only charity group for that long weekend so we made the most of it. We shared, chatted, acted neighbourly and made new friends even as we tried to lure visitors to our stall itself.

Turns out the buyers weren’t all that keen on the little knick knacks, little trinkets or no matter how colourful they were) cute stuffed toys. What they wanted were more serious stuff from books to clothes, bags to watches. By Sunday, we had it down pat and brought mostly novels and children’s colourful books.

We made many new friends like the Pak Cik and his cookie cutter wife who was a whiz with cakes, cookies and packed food, there was Patricia, Kathlene, Christina, and caught up with some ‘older’ friends like Janice of Rantau PR and our happy fren J Lo.

Even Adrian who abhorred selling at Amcorp was lured in by the genteel crowd enough to make a pitch at selling some new clothes for RM35 each. Overall, the experience was exciting and he’s promised to join me again at Jaya33 should the opportunity arise once more!

Unforgettable Deepavali

For many of the poorer single parents at Lembah Subang, this is probably one of the most unforgettable Deepavali ever, not to mention the fact that it is also the most colourful for them so far. Why?

Well, for one thing they received an unexpected 5 black bags full of colourful and lovely looking Deepavali clothes just two days before Deepavali. The clothes were donated by the wife of one of the owners of the most popular Indian food chain The Lotus Restaurant who realised that she could bring some joy and happiness just by donating her own clothes and those of her kids.

The clothes, still in pristine condition and expensively and beautifully textured not forgetting colourful too, drew lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ from the single parents and their kids. Some kids even asked if more of such clothes would be coming in the near future? We told them we hope so!

Topping off their joy was the fact that some 10 Indian single parents received RM100 each to help make Deepavali more enjoyable while those who lacked beds, mattresses, cupboards, gas stoves, beddings and toys were able to also choose from the lorry-load that was brought to their flats at Lembah Subang today. There was even a massage chair that had been donated and will go to single mother Normah’s elderly mum who has been complaining of acute aches and pains!

Jumble Station’s single parent co-ordinator Venie, her sister and friend were on hand to receive the items and were able to secure the help of two men to assist in carting the items up to the rented flat where those who needed the items most, could help themselves to it.

Over the last two years Jumble Station has been able to send the donated items to the homes of the single parents at various areas including Old Klang Road, Desa Mentari, Angsana Flats, Shah Alam, Klang, Sungai Buloh and Lembah Subang. The snag is that one tends to forget to snap a pix of the handover of such household or electrical products because well, no one brought a camera along in the rush to get the lorry and logistics running smoothly.

This time however, we were well prepared and hence you can see the happy smiles on the recipient’s face. For those who are sceptical of JS fulfilling your request that single parents get the items you donated, such pictures speak a thousand words : Thanks for your kindness and we at JS truly do appreciate your kind and continous support! A very Happy Deepavali to all Hindus.

Winning (small) in Cimb’s photo competition

Jumble Station took part in CIMB’s MyCause ’s photo competition launched in July this year and ended in September. We had sent in 5 photos and all except one was centred on the topic of Single Father, Silent Heroes. The remaining one was a photo of some Indian kids peering through a slice of bread at the world.

One entry the one of a sombre looking single father on a bicycle with five happy kids taken just outside of Jumble Station’s shop won a consolation prize in the competition. That and the kids with bread slices was put on display at the CIMB office during the prize presentation event, yesterday.

Of course we were hoping for a big win – the first prize was RM30,000 for the photographer and RM100,000 for the charity featured but the competition was really tough – some 4,600 entries came flooding in and the judges had a tough time picking the winners.

So to have two of our photos in the 100 best photos selected for exhibition by CIMB is already a great miracle and the RM2,000 cash prize that came with the bicycle photo win was a really nice consolation ‘bonus’. CIMB chairman Tan Sri Nor Md Yusof who turned out to be Adrian Ong's customer during his fashion designing days, urged JS to not give up but to try again next year.

What’s more, Tengku Zarina Tengku Ibrahim, CIMB's director of sponsorships said that CIMB has additional monies for deserving charitable causes beyond the photo competition programmes and that Jumble Station is definitely one of those it will be keen to collaborate with. Now that’s something to look forward too right?