KECHARA Soup Kitchen is embarking on a 15-day food mission in Peninsular Malaysia to provide aid to needy families that have been impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic.

The civil society group, which is one of many organisations that run a soup kitchen in Medan Tuanku in the city centre, has been able to realise its dream of reaching out to more communities thanks to a truck donated by Swedish automaker Volvo.

It started the first leg out of its food mission in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on September 21 and plans on travelling to the east coast next before heading to the southern states and ending its food mission in the northern states.

Justin Cheah, operations director for Kechara Soup Kitchen said this is nothing new for Kechara as they have been providing surplus food from supermarkets to the needy since 2017.

The only difference now is with the truck, Kechara can go to the ground and provide for people in rural areas with the help of local volunteers, he said.

“Volvo approached us as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative and we asked if they could donate a truck.

“In fact, we asked for the smallest one available because we want it to be able to get to the areas we wanted to go,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The nine-tonne truck, which has the capacity to carry six tonnes of food, had to be specially shipped from Sweden for Kechara.

The truck will carry dry food items such as rice, cooking oil and canned food to smaller towns in 11 states.

“The first leg of our journey started in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on September 21. We went to PPR Air Panas, Flat Sri Johor, PPR Kota Damansara, Apartment Teratai in Bukit Beruntung, Sg Besar and Taman Damai in Kapar to provide food aid.

“Each family received RM100 worth of food that included a 10kg bag of rice, 5kg of cooking oil, two cans of sardine, two cans of tuna, one bag of flour, two bags of 1kg sugar, dish washing paste and scouring pad,” Cheah said.

In KL and Selangor, the food mission benefitted 706 families. In total, Kechara aims to give away 2,312 sets of food to 5,000 families.

It will be providing food aid to 528 families in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang; 629 families in Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor; and 549 families in Taiping and Ipoh, Perak, and George Town, Penang. After each leg, the truck will return to replenish stocks before heading to the next destination.

“All the food for this mission was donated to us by Perlis Plantation Berhad. They gave us RM200,000 worth of food.”

While the group also wants to help those in East Malaysia, it does not have the capacity to do so for now, Cheah said.

To help with this food run, six of Kechara’s volunteers from KL will travel with the truck to ensure everything goes smoothly while local volunteers on the ground and recipients assist in handing out the food.

Next on Kechara’s agenda is to find a big-enough parking space for the truck.

“We are now on the lookout for a warehouse and if anyone is willing to help us out, that will be great. Not only will it help us store the truck, it will allow us to store more food supplies. Our current store is too full and we are running out of space.”

Future plans

The truck will not only be used for food missions, but take on multiple roles in line with Kechara’s goals.

“At this juncture, we are thinking of using this truck for multipurpose use. Such as giving free tuition, medical supplies, clinics and even flood relief.

“For now, however, our focus is on food and medical care,” Cheah said.

The interior of the truck has also been specifically outfitted for this purpose, he added.

“The truck is fully air-conditioned, it has cabinets outfitted, we changed to flooring so that it’s easier to clean, there is a dispensary, generator and custom-made doors.

“In the dispensary, we have basic medical supplies and we can also conduct medical and dental checks. This is helpful for those in rural areas who live far away from hospitals and find it difficult or expensive to travel to the nearest health facility.”

The interior of the truck was refurbished with the help of Asian Trucker Magazine, Seri Zenith and Taipan Co, which covered the RM120,000 cost involved.

Cheah said once the food mission concludes, Kechara will move on to fund-raise for its school vision.

“We want to collect donations from the public and maybe crowdfund to provide school supplies such as bags and stationery for children returning to school next year.” – September 29, 2021.