KUALA LUMPUR: Actress Datin Seri Umie Aida's mission to help the needy by encouraging the public to offer personal donations via the hashtag #RezekiYangDikongsiLebihDiberkati has garnered strong support.
Aside from getting fellow artistes on board, the effort has also attracted the attention of the Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
Umie said that 200 individuals negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic had already received aid of RM50 each to buy essential goods.
"Praise be to God, for this first phase, I have already given out a small donation from my personal savings to 200 individuals who really needed help.
"Through this system, people only need to make payments via their identity cards at all Mydin branches. I did not limit the amount of edible essential goods that they want since everyone has his or her own way of saving every day.
"Actually, there are many more people who have been private messaging or contacting me to receive help.
"Many have really been hit hard by the pandemic but we need to ensure that the individuals who will be receiving the aid are the ones that are genuinely in need," she said in a news report yesterday.
Umie added that as a celebrity, she did not forget the arts practitioners who had also lost their ability to generate income.
"God-willing, for the second phase, I will be able to target those from the creative industry. I will specifically focus on the behind-the-scenes crew, and artistes. There are some among them who do not have any savings and have been out of work for many months. I will speed up the aid," she said.
Umie added that she was thankful for the support after sharing the project and expressed her hope that people would work together to find solutions.
"What say we try to find solutions together in order to solve the problems and work as a team to help those who truly need assistance. We should show our support for all of the NGOs.
"To me, no matter how small or big the donation, we have to unite to calm the minds of people who are now troubled by job losses and the many challenges of life.
"So we need to understand their situation. God-willing, this will teach us to come together and depend on one another," she said.