KUCHING: Hope Place, the charity that provides food and necessities to society’s neediest, is launching a fundraising animated short today.
Every frame of the four-minute animation is drawn by hand, over a period of seven months, from storyboarding till the completed video.
Hope Place founder Kelvin Wan said he was deeply touched upon viewing the finished animated short. “The story is about helping an old lady, as seen from the point-of-view a young girl. This animation captures both the sadness of those in need and also the joys of collective help. There’s a sense of youthful optimism and camaraderie. It really really moved me,” Wan said.
The animation is being launched at a time when NGO is at its busiest helping families hit hard by the pandemic. It is common knowledge that the poorest are affected the most, Wan said, adding fund raising now is “crucial”.
“We have hundreds of families on our list. We help as many as we can but there is much more that needs to be done. It’s also the year-end landas season and we’re preparing to help during times of disasters.”
Hock Seng Lee (HSL) is one of Hope Place’s biggest donors.
Besides sponsoring this video, HSL also gives Hope Place grants, and recently provided two shoplots at Eden Centre 3, opposite JPJ at Mile 12, free-of-rental for Hope Place to set up a thrift store.
“Dishing out money is only part of what HSL does. More importantly, we believe the best charity is providing our skills and providing our products,” senior manager HR and corporate communicationsJennifer Tang said.
“Because we really value Hope Place’s work, we give them grants, our sales department put this video together, and we are looking forward to seeing their store open — which not only creates employment but will provide affordable items to the community.”
Pixbugs Studio headed the animation team, which consists of young talented graduates from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Swinburne University of Technology here.
“We have done a lot of corporate videos for HSL like new properties, sales events and even aerial views for site tours — but this animation is the most special yet,” Pixbugs founder Shawn Chai said.
“HSL’s brief to us was simple: A sponsored video to let Hope Place use for the long-term as a fund-raiser. We met up with Kelvin, and very quickly, he accepted our idea to do an animation. It’s a very tough challenge for us, as it is tedious and takes a long time, but we felt an animation will really stand apart. We’re hoping this goes viral for a good cause.”
The unveiling of the fundraiser was at the new HSL Tower and La Promenade Mall’s level five auditorium.
Hope Place was founded in 2013.
To learn more about the charity, visit hopeplace.org.my or call 013 5672 775 / 082 505 987.
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