SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA - Media OutReach^[1] - 25 October 2021 -  Canopy Sands Development^[2] ("Canopy Sands"), a member of Prince Holding Group^[3] ("Prince Group"), one of Cambodia's largest and fastest-growing conglomerates, has distributed care packages to M'Lop Tapang, a local non-governmental organization as well as villagers living at Ong Village in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The outreach was part of Canopy Sands' ongoing efforts to support local communities as Cambodia reopens for a post-pandemic recovery.

The Canopy Sands team handed over 30 tons worth of food packs containing essentials such as rice, cooking oil and canned food during the outreach programme involving M'Lop Tapang and residents of Ong Village. Additionally, the donation to M'Lop Tapang also covered medical and hygiene products alongside educational aid like made-to-order school bags from the Indochina Starfish Foundation, a Cambodian charity that focuses on educational initiatives for the underprivileged children in Cambodia.

"We had several conversations with representatives from M'Lop Tapang and Ong Village to understand their specific needs before putting together these care packages. It is our sincere hope that ongoing programs like these will be of assistance and somewhat lessen the hardships of those hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Khong Weng Fook, Managing Director of Canopy Sands.

M'Lop Tapang is one of the leading charitable organizations in Sihanoukville and currently works with more than 5,000 children in Sihanoukville providing a safe environment, medical care, education, training and safe employment, counseling, psycho-social support, family strengthening and protection from abuse. Ong Village is a settlement of over 200 families near the Ream City^[4] project by Canopy Sands.

Earlier in September, Prince Holding Group's philanthropic arm, Prince Foundation, responded to a request for assistance from the Prey Nob district, Preah Sihanouk province, in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by donating 5,000 PPE suits, 1,000 rapid antigen test kits, and 4,500 liters of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. In the same month, Prince Foundation had also launched the Chen Zhi Scholarship in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS), offering full tuition fees and stipends for 400 Cambodian university students via an investment of US$2 million over the coming seven years.

Through distributing essential aid via established NGOs and the local authorities, Canopy Sands is working to develop a constructive dialogue between local communities and the developer to ensure a productive long-term relationship. During the donation at Ong Village, the Ream Commune Chief, Lin Sarin, expressed his support for Ream City, hoping the project's success will bring prosperity to his local community.

Canopy Sands is currently working on its 834-ha Ream City project, a multi-decade coastal development project working off a master plan issued by Singaporean urban consultancy Surbana Jurong that will involve construction efforts along sustainable real estate^[5] development principles.

References

1. ^{^} Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
2. ^{^} Canopy Sands Development (canopysands.com)
3. ^{^} Prince Holding Group (princeholdinggroup.com)
4. ^{^} Ream City (www.reamcity.com)
5. ^{^} real estate (canopysands.com)