WITH 28 alliance partners now, Penang Care Society (PgCare Society) has set its goal to reach out to more needy people in Penang.
PgCare Society (formerly known as PgCare Alliance), was first established on July 16 last year. It was set up to assist families and individuals who had been greatly impacted by the lockdowns and Covid-19.
Over the period, PgCare Society received more than 7,000 calls from the public and delivered some 1,200 food packs to the needy. The society has also referred 95 jobs to those who needed employment, and loaned over 200 equipment, such as oxygen concentrators and oximeters to Covid-19 patients.
Those were among the various efforts taken by the society to aid the communities in the state.
PgCare Society pro tem committee chairman Dr Ngoo Seong Boon said the society has added two more services to their initial three main pillars.
The then PgCare Alliance focused on three main pillars namely Mental Health Aid, Food Aid, and Job Aid & Financial Consultation, when it was first established.
“The people will benefit more from our additional services. The two new pillars – the Virtual Care & Telehealth Service, and Traditional Chinese Medicine – were included end of last year.
“Moving forward, we hope to grow the PgCare Society’s platform to include mobile apps. We are also mulling a virtual command centre,” he told Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow during a courtesy visit in Komtar today.
PgCare Society deputy chairman Chong Soon Kheng said the society hoped to collaborate further with the Penang government to aid the people.
Chow said the Penang government has recently set up a Disaster Management Unit (Unit Pengurusan Bencana), under the State Secretary Office.
“The state government has taken the right move to set up this Disaster Management Unit.
“There was no such coordinating unit with dedicated staff in the past. We were working with the existing machinery, the district officers, and the various committees.
“Now, an officer and several others have been appointed to the Disaster Management Unit and they have started work. We have also included two Federal agencies in the unit,” he said.
Chow said that the unit also had a workshop and attended by Penang Welfare and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh.
“The idea by PgCare Society to have a virtual command centre should be considered seriously. The people are connected virtually nowadays. This is the way forward,” he said.
Chow also said that Phee could link up PgCare Society with the Disaster Management Unit so that the society could be a strong collaborating partner for the unit.
“The NGOs have their own network, and we want to mobilise all that came onboard to help the community,” Chow said.
Also present were Phee, PgCare Society secretary Cefinny Teh Jin Pei, treasurer Keng Soo Peng, committee member Chuah Gim Chuan, and legal adviser Patricia Chung.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Darwina Mohd Daud