By Ahmed Wafi
GOMBAK, 22 November 2015: The Caring Club IIUM came under spotlight as the charity club held its grand dinner at Restoran Nelayan near here to raise funds for the orphans.
Present at the dinner were orphans from six orphanages all in their smiles as they indulged in many different foods. The dinner was the last event of the weekend which marked the orphans’ stay in IIUM’s campus since last Friday.
During their stay in IIUM, the orphans took part in many different competitions including an Explorace.
One of the orphans, Tanesh, 14, from Pertubuhan Kebajikan Anbu Illam, described the dinner as the highlight of his stay. He also expressed satisfaction at the treatment he received from members of the club.
The dinner started with the recitation of surah al-Fatihah and verses from the al-Qur’an. Among the guests present were the Director of University Centre for Community Engagement, Dato Hamidon Abd. Hamid, Advisor of Caring Club, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Yazid Zul Kepli and senior members from the Caring Club.
The committee members of the event were dressed in purple and black and the crowd were seated in different tables representing the tickets they bought.
Tickets were sold in three different categories – bronze, silver and gold – with bronze being the cheapest and gold being the most expensive. Part of proceeds from the entrance fee will be donated to the orphanages.
The menu of the night included fried rice, buttered prawns, roast chicken and other kinds of seafood.
This was the third annual dinner held  by Caring Club as it is no stranger to this club in helping orphans as was displayed last year when they held a marathon in the name of orphans called ‘Run for Orphans 2014′.
The President of Caring Club, Muhammad Zakwan Abdul Razak, delivered his welcoming address which was followed by a speech by Dato’ Hamidon Abd. Hamid.
A video presentation followed through but that only proved to be background music as the audience was too busy indulging in their food to watch the presentation.
In an interview with IIUMToday, Dato’ Hamdon expressed the hope that the orphans can do what they can to become successful people and make their parents proud.
He also said everyone can do their part to help the orphans and that the money is not the only thing orphans need since many people are donating money.
“They probably already have a lot of that. What they need is someone to lean on,” he said rather emotionally. He later cited Michael Bolton’s hit song ‘Lean on me’ in good humour.
An attendee at the gathering, Muhammad Afif, an Economics student was slightly disappointed in the Club’s choice of menu feeling that he did not get his money’s worth. But later he felt less bitter about it knowing that some of the money he paid went to the welfare of the orphans.
The Caring Club is one of the many clubs under the Centre for Community Service and Continuing Education (CENSERVE) and arguably the most active of the clubs. It has hosted events throughout the year and recorded a great number of participation from the IIUM community.***
Photos by Afifuddin Adnan & Faris Amir