Established in 1995, The IJN Foundation is a non-profit organisation with a mission to raise philanthropic support for the Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) as well as for heart patients. The Foundation has spent almost RM 4 million each year to fund the treatment cost for undeprivileged patients who need heart surgeries and specific devices.
While the Institute covers the operational costs of the Foundation, in terms of funding for those in
need of aid, the Foundation must strike out on their own to obtain funds. Bank Islam’s Sadaqa House, a crowdfunding platform designed for social responsibility, is one such benefactor that understands the needs of the
Foundation.
Picture : Foundation manager, Ritzzawati Rosli
Thanks to of Sadaqa House’s pledge this year to the IJN Foundation, RM 300,000 will be funded for the operational costs for a batch of children. According to IJN Foundation’s Manager, Ritzzawati Rosli, costs for a non-surgery case could go up to RM 10,000, while for surgery, financial requirements could mean a staggering amount of RM 30,000 to cover the costs. The initiative by Sadaqa House has covered the operational costs of nine children and children undergoing surgery. Thank you to all Malaysian and international donors who contributed through Sadaqa House.
Foundation manager Ritzzawati says, “While most companies have their CSR budget, we would like to convey a message to the companies, to get to know the lives they are affecting on a personal basis.” for more engagement from other corporate entities, Ritzzawati says that the pledge by Sadaqa House has given the board of trustees of the
Foundation assurance that they can rely on Sadaqa House and other benefactors whenever a child is in
need, throughout the period of the pledge.
While the condition of a hole in the heart is known to many, there are other diseases and conditions that
affect the wellbeing of a child’s heart. This includes valve issues that could presents itself in a diagnosis of
a hole in the valve. Children would have to undergo treatment in stages and in coming years, they would
have to go back to hospitals for multiple check-ups.
With RM 100,000 spent on nine children this year, the remaining RM 200,000 will go on to cover the costs of children needing surgery, and this comes as a relief for both the Foundation and the family.
Ritzzawati also says, the funding not only helps to cover the costs of surgery, but it also prevents families resorting to social media platforms to plead for financial aid. This is partly because of incidents where parents have misused social media platforms to continuously plead for aid when the option of funding has been presented to them.
The collaboration between Bank Islam’s Sadaqa House and IJN Foundation has proven to be fruitful.
Ritzzawati hopes that the partnership between both entities continues and will eventually expand to cover other patients, thanks again to Sadaqa House.
The pledge has brought relief not just to the families of the affected and to the Foundation, but most importantly ensured the children who receive the funding will have a future.
There is a verse in the Quran where Allah says, “Allah condemns Riba and nourishes Charities” al-Baqarah:276. The collaboration between Bank Islam’s Sadaqa House and the IJN Foundation is testament to this very quote.
