EXPANSION PLAN: Villa Paulos hopes to raise RM200,000 for its new building
JOHOR BARU: VILLA Paulos will be holding a charity dinner on July 7 at Zon Regency Hotel here to raise funds for a new building to accommodate the increasing number of children in the home.
The home expects to raise RM200,000 during the event.
The Catholic charity home here is an abode to 23 boys and girls aged between 7 and 14 who come from poor backgrounds.
Villa Paulos's chairman of the board F. Paul Netto said the existing building can comfortably accommodate a maximum of 25 children but since there is an increase of residents, the building needs to be extended.
"The estimated cost of building the double-storey extension is RM400,000," he said.
Villa Paulos is a registered non-profit, voluntary welfare organisation set up in 2008 to shelter neglected, exploited, abused, abandoned and orphaned children.
The children here are cared for by four full-time staff and also volunteers who provide tuition, counseling, medical and other essential needs.
The home is housed in an old bungalow at Jalan Mariamah, donated by the late Goh Lum Eng, and entrusted to the care of Bishop Paul Tan S.J., the bishop of Malacca-Johor Diocese.
The home is managed by a board that includes members from the Society of St Vincent De Paul, Church of Immaculate Conception.
It is run entirely on public funds, and in addition to caring for the children, Villa Paulos also provides monthly financial aid to more than 30 low-income families in and around Johor Baru.
The children are identified and recommended by their parish priests and admitted after a background check and board members' visit to their homes.
When the children turn 18 years old after completing their Form 5, they are expected to leave the home unless they continue their Form 6 studies.
To help them improve their command of Bahasa Malaysia, five exam-year students are given tuition classes at a tuition centre while two go to a private tutor.
To symbolically kick off the construction of the new building on the adjacent land, Tan performed a simple ground-breaking ceremony last Saturday.
Villa Paulos welcomes gifts in kind, donations and pledges.
Tickets for the dinner are available from Netto at 012-722 5218 or Theresa Lee at 016-771 1689.
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