In line with its commitment to serve the most vulnerable members of society, the Zakat, Sadaqah dan Waqf Division of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) supported a team of dedicated postgraduate students from the Faculty of Business Management (FBM) as they carried out an outreach programme for young children and teens from the B40 community. Sadaqah funds were provided for the organisation of the Kids Today, Leaders Tomorrow programme at the USJ16 Sri Tanjung Flats in Subang Jaya Selangor on Saturday, 5 October 2019.
The programme was run with the support of approximately 30 volunteers made up of undergraduates from the Faculty of Dentistry, UiTM, police personnel from the Royal Malaysian Police, fire and rescue personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department, students from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), as well as volunteers from HEART (Health Empowerment and Reform Team), a local NGO.
The objectives of the programme were manifold. The primary objective was to provide children of the USJ16 Sri Tanjung community with exposure to information of how to keep safe and be aware of socially acceptable norms of behaviour. In addition, the programme also aimed to instil interest in science and this is in line with national aspirations to have more students opt for the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) track. The programme also opened a line of communication between the USJ16 Sri Tanjung community and local authorities such as the police and fire and rescue department. Another objective of the programme was to provide some real world experience to the student volunteers from UiTM, UPM and USIM. The student volunteers were able to apply their skills and training in an environment outside the confines of the facilities available on their campuses. Finally, the programme also provided the postgraduate students who organised the event with a unique opportunity to apply the knowledge gained from their project management course and draw on a variety of soft skills to ensure the success of the programme.
The funding of this programme signals a paradigm shift in the approach taken by UiTM’s Zakat, Sadaqah dan Waqf Division to disburse zakat, sadaqah dan waqf funds. In addition to ensuring the disbursement of funds to the deserving, the division is working closely with the Accounting Research Institute (ARI), UiTM to put in place an efficient and highly transparent route for the disbursement of funds. The division plans to continue its partnership with ARI to ensure that all future initiatives funds have measurable and sustainable outcomes which can be reported to stakeholders and the public at large.
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