BEC initiates corporal work of mercy

Oct 14, 2015

By Pauline Kuan
The members of BEC St Anthony from the Church of St Francis of Assisi came together to bring a family under the Assisi Palliative Care (a charitable, not-for-profit and community based palliative care organisation) on an outing to KLCC on Sept 9.

This family of six is no ordinary family. The father is a stroke patient, wheel-chair bound and unable to work. There are four children: two girls and two boys aged between 6 to 16. The two boys, one 13 and the other 6, are afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which is a genetic disorder (that mostly affects boys) causing progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. The mother is the only bread-winner of the family. She works as a dhobi.

The itinerary was a walk around the mall, the park, grocery shopping and lunch. Apart from the cash donations collected for grocery shopping, one of our members, together with her buddies, sponsored a KFC lunch with some goodie bags and gifts for the children.

They were also able to get Aquaria tickets for the family as well as the volunteers — a bonus indeed.

KLCC may just be another shopping mall for many of us, but for first-time visitors like this family, words could not express the look on their faces. They were filled with amazement at the towering skylight from the concourse and the array of shops. Aquaria, too, was an enjoyable experience for them especially when they got on the travelator taking them through an undersea journey of the Living Ocean.

It was indeed a very satisfying and fulfilling day for all the volunteers from BEC St Anthony. The joy on the children’s faces when they went home with their groceries and goodie bags and the loving hugs from their mother will always be fond memories for us.

This is only the beginning, and definitely not the last, for BEC St Anthony. We will, as one Community, be looking around for opportunities to reach out to other groups, families or individuals to share our love and blessings with.