MBF Cards, Bangsar Seafood Village, NTV7, The Edge and WOWfm, are arranging an International Charity Food Fair and Dinner on March 2nd, 2002, to raise at least RM 500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand) for underprivileged and special children's homes.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, YB Dato' Seri Syed Hamid Albar, has consented to be Patron for the event which will be organized by The Solutions Gallery Sdn Bhd, an experienced event organizer.

Organizing Committee Chairman, Dato' Kalimullah Hassan, who is also Chairman of MBF Capital Berhad, said Bangsar Seafood Village will host the event, which will include a day-long food fair. Several foreign embassies based in Kuala Lumpur have been invited and have indicated their willingness to participate in the charity event by providing traditional food and cooking from their home countries.

MBF Cards, NTV7, The Edge and WOWfm are the Supporting Partners in the event. Kalimullah said the idea to host the International Charity Food Fair and Dinner was mooted two months ago to raise funds for special and underprivileged children.

"Malaysians are very charitable when giving to the needy. We have contributed generously to victims of wars in other countries. This is symbolic of the globalised village we live in. We felt that we could gather the international community, through their embassies, and our own people to raise funds for special children in Malaysia."

Among the highlights of the food fair would be games, music, mini auctions and of course, authentic food offered by various participating embassies, culminating in the evening's charity dinner where cheques will be presented to the different homes by the event's Patron or his representative.

"The response so far has been encouraging and we believe we can achieve our target of RM500,000.00 for the homes we have identified," Kalimullah said. The homes are Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation at Jalan Gasing in Petaling Jaya, Rumah Hope at Paramount Garden in Petaling Jaya, Persatuan Kanak- kanak Istimewa Kajang at Kajang, Rumah Juara at Jalan 7/2 in Petaling Jaya and Montfort Boys Town in Shah Alam.

Kalimullah said: "An independent accounting firm will handle all monies received and the final accounts will be advertised in The Edge, together with a list of all major contributions." "Everyone involved in organizing this event is doing it voluntarily. If we are successful, we hope to make this a regular event to raise funds for needy causes," he added.

The Organizing Committee includes:

• Dato' Loy Teik Ngan - Chairman of MBF Cards.
• Datuk Azizan Abdul Rahman - Managing Director of MBf Capital Berhad.
• Dato' Abdul Rahim Razak - Member of Police Commission, Malaysia.
• Mr Victor Cheah & Ms Esther Soon - Proprietors & Operators of Bangsar Seafood Restaurant Sdn Bhd.
• Mr Sreedhar Subramaniam - Chief Operating Officer of Natseven TV Sdn Bhd.
• Mr Ho Kay Tat - Editor-in-Chief of The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd.
• Mr Tony Savarimuthu & Ms Selina Kok - MBF Cards (M'sia) Sdn Bhd.
• Mr FC Law & Ms Chung Eng Lee - The Solutions Gallery Sdn Bhd.

For further details and enquiries, members of the public and corporate organizations can contact Mr FC Law and Ms Chung Eng Lee of The Solutions Gallery at (03) 5621 2178 or (03) 5621 2181. Alternatively, please email your enquiries through fclaw@tm.net.my or mellc@pd.jaring.my