by TMR/ pic credit: HanaFundMe.com

WITH the support of good samaritans, a recently launched public campaign on a new crowdfunding platform called HanaFundMe.com took less than a month to successfully raise the funds required to get an income-challenged man a motorcycle to help him move around.

Mohammad Azhar Alias (picture) from Rawang, Selangor, took on a parttime job as a street sweeper to supplement the family’s income from his baking business which he co-owns with his wife.

To make matters worse, his only mode of transportation, an ageing motorcycle gave way during the first phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO), so he started renting his friends’ motorcycles to get around.

Although challenged financially, Mohammad Azhar never fails to feed abandoned and starving stray cats around the highway rest areas where he sweeps.

The Hanafundme.com team had chanced upon Mohammad Azhar’s story when it was shared on social media and was moved to assist him and raise the funds needed to get him a new motorcycle.

The successful campaign was also made possible with the generous support of national motorcycle company Syarikat Motosikal dan Enjin Nasional Sdn Bhd (Modenas).

Mohammad Azhar received the key to his long-awaited motorcycle in a ceremony at the Modenas head office on June 5 from DRB- Hicom Bhd group head of strategic communications Mahmood Abd Razak and Modenas head of marketing and communications Balkish Hood, and witnessed by Hanafundme.com CEO and co-founder Angie S Chin.

Hanafundme.com launched its BETA on March 18 which is specifically created to support girls or women-owned start-ups, businesses, non-profits and side projects to raise funds to kick-start or support innovative or impacting ideas, projects or missions by tapping on the community’s support.

Chin said the crowdfunding platform is not something new.

“Thanks to Kickstarter, the big brother of all crowdfunding platforms, similar new platforms have been created all over the world to meet various campaigns, projects and missions.

“We hope to continue helping deserving individuals, communities and causes via our platform for as long as we can,” she said.

Being the first crowdfunding platform for women in Malaysia, HanaFundMe.com hopes to increase awareness and presence to encourage more women in the country and within the region to explore, start their ventures and be self-sustainable.

HanaFundMe.com also supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in transforming communities.

The platform has also launched an ongoing Appeal Covid-19 fundraising campaign, to raise funds to procure personal protective equipment supplies to be sent to hospitals in Sabah, where the first shipment has been sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.