KUALA LUMPUR: In conjunction with World Food Day yesterday, the Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) Society is planning to expand its efforts to combat food insecurity by encouraging public involvement through the launch of its World Food Day 2024 Campaign.
With this year’s theme being “Right to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future”, the campaign, which was launched yesterday, is a collaboration with Lotus’s Malaysia, AEON Co and AEON BiG to raise awareness on world hunger and promote sustainable food practices.
Present at the event was Tengku Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj, the second daughter of the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and a volunteer and long-time supporter of KSK’s initiatives.
KSK managing director Justin Cheah said since 2016, it has worked closely with its partners to redistribute surplus food from hypermarkets to the needy.
To date, the collaboration has distributed more than four million kilogrammes of food,
which benefitted over 180,000 underprivileged individuals nationwide.
“Currently, we provide regular assistance to over 4,000 families, but we are constantly short of supplies. To continue supporting them, we need more people to step forward and contribute.”
Cheah said in 2023, 769,696kg of food was distributed, benefitting 179,148 individuals, including the homeless, senior citizens, people with disability, single parents, Orang Asli and children.
He said the society’s mission to ensure food distribution to the most vulnerable is particularly important now, considering rising costs and logistical challenges that increase the demand for food sources.
“This year, we aim to distribute one million kilogrammes of food to those in need. However, one of our major challenges is to run the programme and raise funds to sustain it, especially with the rising cost of goods.
“We hope to gather even more support during this campaign to ensure no one is left behind in the fight against hunger.”
KSK has six centres in the country that support people living on the streets. It also runs a food bank programme, with plans to expand its reach and help more needy individuals.
“Our soup kitchen started in 2008 to address homelessness and poverty. In 2012, we expanded our efforts to a food bank. About 70% of our work focuses on the food bank and initiatives aimed at helping families break the cycle of poverty.”
Cheah also said Tengku Zatashah has been helping it to connect with partners like AEON and Lotus’s.
“Her involvement has significantly accelerated our collaboration process, and thanks to her efforts, we have been able to increase our impact on those in need.”
He said individuals wishing to assist can either drop off their donations at KSK’s food bank or purchase essential items at any AEON or Lotus’s stores and place them in the designated donation bins.
“These donations will be transported to our site in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur for distribution. It’s important to remember those suffering from hunger and food security so that we can channel more effort to creating a better place for those in need.”
