Malta Community Chest Fund launched as a Foundation

President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said that the new foundation would keep addressing vulnerability and offering solidarity at the core of their values.

"This fund has been sustained for a long time and it has remained one of the strongest solidarity movements in the country. Turning this into a foundation will ensure more control and assessment of the services given," Coleiro Preca said.

"We cannot allow ideas that are seeding themselves into other countries to find root here in Malta, we cannot give up on people's lives," she said referring to the fact that many countries were now opting not to give treatment unless there was a hope of cure.

She added that the foundation would now have more than one board and that even the implementation of certain projects would be supervised.

The secretary of the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF), John Camilleri said that the foundation would be made up of three different boards; a  supervision board to make policies, an administrative board entrusted with implementation, and finally, a consultative board.

“There will also be small groups or units that will carry out specialized and specific tasks such as finances, ethics, medical help and public relations among others.” Camilleri said. 

Addressing all those present at the launch, the president said that the aim of the foundation was not just to offer a good service, but also to reach out to those who may not come forward with their own problems.

Coleiro preca explained that the Fund had been open for 60 years now and that it was the largest philanthropic organisation in the country.

“The MCCF has become an essential part of the policies I have worked on since I took office,” she said adding that she wanted to transform the fund into a better organisation.

TV presenter Peppi Azzopardi was also present at the event and he presented real life experiences of people who had made use of the fund in their difficult experiences. One woman, whose son was diagnosed with cancer at two, and subsequently lost his sight, said that the fund had been very helpful as it had allowed her to travel to and from the countries where her son was receiving therapy some 48 times.

“The fund means that there is someone out there ready to take care of me,” she stressed.

Another woman, a cancer patient herself said that the MCCF had not just offered financial aid but even emotional and psychological support.

Camilleri also explained that the MCCF had been operating from Valletta through a small group of workers and dedicated volunteers.

“We have also formed a group of professional family therapists, psychologists and social workers who would asses individual cases and ensure that the required care is ultimately given,” he said.

He added that in a year, between April 2014 and March 2015, the fund had given €2,086,205 in financial aid and €870,000 in aid to NGO’s.