Can You Chip In?

If you’ve been a reader of this blog for sometime, you would know that I’m one of the two founding members of WomenBizSENSE, a business ladies’ networking group in Penang.
You can find out more about our growing group of business ladies from our website at www.WomenBizSense.com
Anyway, we’re having our Christmas lunch early this December. We usually have it nice and early because Christmas/December is a very busy time for many of us in business. The holiday season and end of the year always makes businesses extra active and we’re all on ‘go’ most times.
This year, we’re combining our Christmas lunch with a meaningful event – we’re raising money for the Malaysian SLE Association. The idea came about during one lunch with Nancy, one of our members, who helps out with this association for lupus patients.
Yes, I went like “What’s lupus?” when Nancy brought up the topic.
To be fair, all I knew about lupus was that it was nerve condition, thanks to some news in the papers last year about 2 pretty twin veejays Choy and May who did up calendars for the association (which were later sold to raise money). Their mom suffered from lupus and so they focused some public attention and spotlight on this little known health concern.
Basically lupus is a chronic, auto-immune disease of unknown cause where the patient’s body makes large quantities of blood proteins called anti-bodies that react against the person’s own tissues.
Lupus is a disease which not only affects the skin of the patient but also other organs of the body such as kidneys. It can be fatal too.
What’s more, in Malaysia, some 10,000 people have been diagnosed with SLE over the past 30 years so it’s not just a minor, unimportant disease. This number may be only the tip of the iceberg as there could be people who have not been diagnosed.
As it is a rather low profile disease (and not as prominent as cancer or heart disease or diabetes), many people don’t think it’s that important. And that’s why fund-raising for this association is important – it gives them the resources to help other lupus patients.
Nancy hopes to start up the Penang chapter of the Malaysian SLE Association soon and if ever there was a gungho woman, she’s it.
What I admire about her is that she’s not even a lupus patient. She’s just like you and me but believes she can do something to help other women who suffer from lupus.
And so, we’re helping Nancy help other women.
Jo, Nancy and I then and there decided that we should use the lunch to do some charity. So we’re organising a lucky draw where our ladies contribute prizes and we sell the lucky draw tickets to friends and family members at RM5 apiece.
All ticket sales will go to the Malaysian SLE Association. That’s our way of doing something for lupus patients as some 90 per cent of lupus patients are women!
It’s not a public draw (because then we’d need special permit from the Government) but a private draw where we hope both our members, close friends, families and non-members will help us out.
Our members can contribute prizes for the draw and buy the draw tickets. Non-members (and I hope there are companies out there who are willing to help out) can also do both – give something in cash or kind or buy some of our tickets. 😉
If you’re in Penang and want to help, here’s what you’ll get in return: an honourable mention during our luncheon, a free 1-month advertisement on the WomenBizSense website and have your flyers/brochures/business cards displayed during our Christmas luncheon. And if you want to buy our draw tickets @ RM5 each, please contact me.
It’s win-win in every way! And you’ll be doing a fantastically good deed for this season of giving and good cheer.
So what say you? Care to chip in?