‘Join Johor food bank initiative’

State govt urges shops to donate perishables instead of wasting them

JOHOR BARU: Hypermarkets and supermarkets in the state have been urged to participate in a “food bank” initiative organised by the state government to distribute food to the poor and needy.

Under this pioneer programme, perishable produce such as vegetables, fruits and bread that are about to expire in a few days time are given to the needy, said Johor Consumerism, Human Resources and Unity committee chairman Dr S. Ramakrishnan.

“Instead of just throwing them away, these outlets can work with non-governmental organisations to help to distribute the foodstuff to the poor and charitable homes,” he said, adding that he had personally gone to inspect the foodstuff and found it to be in good condition.

“So far Tesco, Econsave and others have joined this pioneer pro- gramme. I hope more will join us,” he said, adding this was successfully done in Penang.

Interested parties can liaise with Kechara Soup Kitchen, the project coordinator.

“In the first attempt, we managed to collect 408kg of foodstuff including 16.35kg of bread and 391.95kg of fresh produce,” he said, adding that it was distributed to eight welfare homes in Johor Baru and Kulai.

Meanwhile on another matter, Dr Ramakrishnan urged state government agencies to make sacrifices including “cutting down” on at least one or two meals served during meetings annually and channel the savings to the Johor Cerebral Palsy Association.

He said that there were thousands of meetings held statewide annually.

“If we save on one or two meetings annually, the savings can be donated to the Johor Spastic Association that is in dire need of funds,” he said in an interview after attending their celebrations in conjunction with Deepavali here yesterday.

He added that to get the ball rolling, one of the agencies under his purview, Johor Human Capital Strategic Unit formally known as Unit Swadaya Insan Johor, would be asked to forgo food for one meeting each month.

“That means we will have savings from 12 meetings and we hope to channel this to the association,” he added.

Dr Ramakrishnan added that the association, which is 51 years old, needed about RM1.8mil annually for its budget.

“I hope to help get them an annual grant from the state government as at the moment they are relying on public donors and companies for funds,” he said.

Dr Ramakrishnan also urged companies to come forward to assist the Spastic Association as they were helping many children who were in need.

He also later gave an allocation of RM5,000 to the association.

For more information about the association, contact its office at 07-2235452 or 07-2264380.

Instead of just throwing them away, these outlets can work with non-governmental organisations to help to distribute the foodstuff. Dr S. Ramakrishnan