AT the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Malaysians came forward to lend a helping hand to those struggling, and some have continued to do so until today, like the Hope Branch, From The People Food Bank, and Siamy Tan.

The founders of these groups told The Malaysian Insight that they are still delivering aid in the form of donations, food and other necessities.

Dr Jezamine Lim, who founded Hope Branch in November 2020, said her non-profit still distributes meals to the homeless and people in the B40 group in Kuala Lumpur four times a week.

She said Hope Branch continues to assist people in the B40 group with grocery shopping and cash handouts to help pay for things like rent arrears.

“We also give out electrical appliances like washing machines, kettles, rice cookers, and fridges, although this is mainly for flood victims,” she said.

“We still get requests (to replace flood damaged items) as many of them actually haven’t really recovered and some of them are also very shy to ask for assistance. The problem still persists.”

Lim said people are still requesting aid, especially elderly folk living alone, people with disabilities, or family caregivers needing help with hospital expenses.

“Although people are picking themselves up again, it doesn’t happen overnight,” she said.

Cheska Tatiana Ridzuan, 26, co-founder of From The People Food Bank, said they are still delivering food every week, despite having had to cut down from the 1,000 packs that they used to deliver during the early days of the pandemic to only 20 packs.

She said the group was still receiving requests for food, particularly during festivals and flooding.

Rice and dry goods, baby formula and nappies, fresh vegetables, and poultry are among the things that Cheska’s team delivers to the recipients.

“Food and funds are still being donated but on a much smaller scale than before,” she said.

“I would argue that things aren’t back to normal yet, a lot of families are still struggling to make ends meet due to the rising cost of goods.

“While we serve a reduced number of households, demand still remains,” she said.

Meanwhile, Siamy Tan, a 54-year-old architect, who in May last year had gathered a group of Malaysians to prepare and serve home-cooked meals to underprivileged communities, said her aid initiative has since slowed down.

“Previously, we prepared 60,000 meals from May to November 2021, but now everything’s gone back to normal, so the number of sponsors has also decreased,” she said.

“Nowadays, we do it randomly as and when I have funds,” she said, adding that she still receives requests for food.

On May 15, she delivered 600 packs of home cooked food to underprivileged communities in Rifle Range and Sungai Pinang in Penang.

“Served them with satay, nasi lemak, kuih and cakes… something to cheer them up,” she said. – May 28, 2022.