JOHOR BAHRU, 20 December 2022: Kulim Malaysia Berhad (KULIM) has built a greenhouse in the vicinity of Cerebral Palsy Johor (CPJ) to aid the association’s various activities which include providing agrotherapy for children with cerebral palsy and developing an income stream through the sale of crops grown for the association.

KULIM through its Agrofarm division and Yayasan Johor Corporation (Yayasan JCorp) had several discussions with CPJ to evaluate and propose the best possible assistance to address CPJ’s plan to actively and sustainably generate income for the association.

First and foremost, the greenhouse will be leveraged to facilitate therapy sessions for young students with agrotherapy.  Agrotherapy provides structured, hands-on activities in an agricultural setting and will help those with cerebral palsy to improve motor coordination, increase strength and endurance as well as enhance communication through healing relationships with people, plants, and the surrounding ecosystem.

With the development of the greenhouse which was funded by an investment of RM40,000 by KULIM, CPJ will also be able to grow crops of fresh fruits and vegetables in a conducive, self-sustaining environment. The harvests could be sold by the association at reasonable prices in the retail market. Part of KULIM’s commitment to the initiative is to provide advisory and training services and periodic monitoring of the greenhouse. Some of the crops that will be grown include lettuce with plans to add rock melon in the near future.

“CPJ is extremely grateful for the continued collaboration and contributions by KULIM and Yayasan JCorp which enables us to enhance and expand our efforts to reach more children and provide more opportunities that elevate livelihoods. This latest initiative is very much aligned with our commitment to educate, train, treat, and provide special needs for children with cerebral palsy. Given its far-reaching benefits, we hope that the surrounding community will support the greenhouse project by opting to purchase fruits and vegetables for their daily sustenance at CPJ,” said Tunku Fatimah Faridah, Chairman of CPJ.

Mohd Faris Adli Shukery, Managing Director of KULIM, said the Group is honoured to continue its collaboration with Yayasan JCorp to assist CPJ in its efforts to care for and educate children with cerebral palsy.

“As an agribusiness player, people have always been the drivers of our success and we want to be able to share that by improving the quality of life and uplifting people in our communities as well. Apart from assisting those in need, we also want to encourage the community to take part and make a meaningful difference and impact be it through donations, purposeful spending, or even contributing their time, which is equally important in line with our wider ESG commitment and #KULIMPEDULI CSR campaign,” said Mohd Faris.

“As the main body in implementing corporate responsibility efforts and ESG agenda in JCorp Group, Yayasan JCorp fully supports this collaboration between KULIM and CPJ. We hope that the positive impact of these nature-friendly development and community welfare activities will greatly benefit the cerebral palsy children, CPJ and also the surrounding community, said Chairman of Yayasan JCorp,” Rozaini Mohd Sani.

#KULIMPEDULI aims to deliver development programmes that involve the community in championing key causes with a focus on education, upskilling, and improving the livelihoods of people.

Since 2020, Yayasan JCorp, together with JCorp and its Group of companies, has donated more than RM500,000 to CPJ in cash and in-kind contributions for various initiatives including upgrading its IT facilities and the greenhouse.

KULIM’s longstanding relationship with CPJ began in 2010 through a series of donations as well as frequent provision of KULIM crops such as pineapples for CPJ’s use for Family Day sales.

CPJ currently serves a community of over 90 children and mobilises a network of 32 volunteers. The Association takes pride in being a leading service provider in the state of Johor, offering professionally integrated programmes and services for these special children.