GEORGE TOWN: With the cost of living squeezing household budgets, acts of kindness need not come at a high price, as shoppers can help feed needy families by picking up an extra packet of food during their grocery trips.
The Semeja Harapan campaign in Penang makes it easier for people to contribute, allowing them to purchase food items for donation while shopping for their own household needs.
The donated items can be placed in designated collection bins at participating supermarkets, where they will be collected and distributed to needy families.
Mutiara Food Bank chief operating officer Damien Fong said the initiative was designed to make giving more convenient, allowing shoppers to help others through small contributions that could make a difference to families struggling to put food on the table.
“People can pick up an extra packet or two of food while shopping and leave them in the collection bins. We will collect the donations when the bins are about 80% full,” he said.
Fong encouraged shoppers to consider nutritious food that would give recipients more variety in their meals.
“Rice, cooking oil, sugar and flour are useful, but we welcome items such as milk powder, canned sardines, tuna, dried beans, nuts, oats, dried mushrooms and other nutritious food that can be stored without refrigeration.
“We want families receiving assistance to have a balanced diet and more choices when preparing meals,” he said.
Fong said the food bank would accept all types of food donations except cooked food under the campaign.
He said assistance was available to single mothers, homeless people, those from broken families and households struggling to make ends meet.
“People who need food can contact us. We do not question their circumstances because we understand that anyone approaching us for food is already in a difficult situation.
“We only record their names and take photographs for our record. If someone tells us there are two hungry family members at home, we will provide food for them,” he said.
Beyond Semeja Harapan, Fong said the food bank collected surplus fresh produce and bread from supermarkets daily for distribution through community centres, village community management councils, residents’ associations and mosques.
It collected vegetables from supermarkets in Kulim and Sungai Petani, besides food from Macallum wholesale market every Tuesday and Bukit Mertajam wholesale market when required.
The food bank runs a cooked-meal programme through which corporate sponsors can fund meals costing about RM6.50 each, including a drink.
State welfare committee chairman Lim Siew Khim said Mutiara Food Bank was a state-run initiative that started in 2017.
She said 11,105 households remained registered under the poor category as of Sept 30.
“These families continue to require the state’s attention and support.
“Without timely intervention, some may risk falling into hardcore poverty,” Lim said.
Mutiara Food Bank has redistributed more than 2,000 tonnes of surplus food that would otherwise have gone to waste.
