17 April 2023
The community outreach programme, jointly led by CIMB Islamic and CIMB Foundation to bring cheer to the underserved groups this festive season
Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Group Holdings Berhad (“CIMB Group” or “the Group”) continues to actively support communities in need through the Harapan Ramadan programme. In conjunction with Ramadan and the upcoming Hari Raya, the community outreach programme is jointly led by CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad (“CIMB Islamic”) and CIMB Foundation with a contribution of close to RM1.9 million, positively impacting over 33,000 individuals nationwide.
The programme is a collaboration with six non-governmental organisations (“NGO”), namely Islamic Relief Malaysia, Yayasan Belia Malaysia, Yayasan Kita Anak Malaysia, Persatuan Belia Seri Cempaka, Pusat Jagaan Kesayangan Mumtahanah and Maahad Tahfiz Nadi Huffaz, as well as 12 other orphanages.
Beneficiaries of this year’s Harapan Ramadan consist of the B40 and Asnaf communities, including heads of families, single parents, children, people with permanent disabilities (“OKU”), refugees, senior citizens and other underprivileged communities across the country. The programme includes distributions of essential items such as rice, canned food, cooking oil and other staples in preparation for the festivities. In addition, cash allowances were also provided to the orphanages for their necessities and for all the children to shop for ‘Baju Raya’ or any apparel of their choice. Building on the festive spirit, CIMB continued to spread cheer by supporting several iftar sessions with the beneficiaries.
Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff, CEO of CIMB Islamic said, “Many communities have been impacted by adversities, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent floods. As a purpose driven financial institution, CIMB always aims to be at the forefront of providing support to all groups of society. As such, we are pleased to return once again, together with our partners, with the Harapan Ramadan programme, this Holy month. We hope our contribution will help alleviate the burden of those in need.”
Rafe Haneef, CEO of CIMB Foundation said, “The month of Ramadan provides us the opportunity to amplify our good deeds and share our blessings with the communities we serve across Malaysia. We are pleased to be able to work with CIMB Islamic, on the Harapan Ramadan programme to provide much needed help to those in need through this community outreach programme.”
Through CIMB Islamic, the Group has championed various initiatives for the Asnaf and the B40 communities, whilst supporting the development of underprivileged groups via programmes, such as the Program Keusahawanan Taylor’s – CIMB Islamic, the iTEKAD CIMB Islamic Rider Entrepreneur Programme, International Islamic University Malaysia (“IIUM”) – CIMB Islamic iTAAJIR Programme and CIMB MicroBizReady. These initiatives aim to empower B40 entrepreneurs by providing them with training and mentorship to enhance their entrepreneurship skills that will help them improve their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, CIMB Foundation serves as the Group’s corporate social responsibility and philanthropic arm, focusing on four impact areas i.e. education; health and community wellbeing; economic empowerment as well as climate and environment. These contribute towards sustainable impact for the surrounding communities, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.