ABOUT 30 families with autistic children received food and daily essentials from Lions Club of Kuala Lumpur South and OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd as part of their joint effort to help people overcome economic difficulties caused by Covid-19.

The supplies reached the families through Ideas Autism Centre, an early intervention initiative that offers full-day service of quality care, therapy and education for autistic children from urban poor families.

The centre focuses on children aged three to nine years, with the aim of building their independence so they can enter the mainstream primary education system.

Currently, the centre in Rawang manages 31 children.

The joint special relief programme was aimed at supporting affected families and the needy in the community by providing food such as rice, cooking oil, Hari Raya cookies and other essential supplies including face masks and hand sanitiser.

Lions Club of Kuala Lumpur South president James Tan and organising chairman Amanda Looi said the collaboration with OCBC Al-Amin was crucial to assist the needy families in these challenging times.

“We are grateful to OCBC Al-Amin through their Wangsa Maju branch for its relentless support and commitment to assist communities facing difficulties arising from Covid-19, as some of the breadwinners have lost their jobs.

“We hope our contribution brought some joy to the families and we are pleased to have done our little part to help,” they said.

OCBC Al-Amin Wangsa Maju branch senior manager Puteri Intan Sarah Razali said the bank continued to strive to be more involved in the localities in which it operated and more engaged in the community.

“The social and economic effect of the global pandemic is hard for many so we wanted to reach out to support our own community particularly those who have been deeply affected.

“We thank Lions Club of Kuala Lumpur South for being part of this relief programme,” she said.