KENANGA LENDS A HELPING HAND
Bank launches HumanKIND project sponsoring meals from café run by the disabled
IT is no mean feat to adapt to a life without sight, what more having to pivot an entire social enterprise to a “new normal”.
Social entrepreneur Stevens Chan, who lost his sight to glaucoma, bested both challenges.
“When Covid-19 hit, we had to close down everything, even the exhibition,” said the founder of Dialogue Includes All – a social enterprise that aims for an inclusive, empathetic and equal society with no separation between the abled and disabled.
“After movement control was relaxed and we were open for a while, we had to adhere to strict SOPs and couldn’t have many people coming in.
“Now it’s a matter of survival. Could we go beyond Covid-19?
“We are thankful for our good friends at Kenanga who offered their support, and Grab which agreed to include us as their sales partner (with Café Includes).”
Chan said that almost his entire team had to be trained to prepare food, make coffee and tea, while others learnt telemarketing.
“All the meals are prepared by our team who are visually, physically or mentally impaired – taught by my wife and other partners,” he added.
Chan, who authored My Resilience Recipe, said that Café Includes is like any other restaurant, except that by purchasing their meals it would bring hope to those who prepared the food.
He disclosed that the whole Dialogue experience would soon be rebranded as a theme park.
“If we are successful, this would be the first in Asean and third in the world, after Hamburg in Germany and Tokyo,” he said.
Kenanga Investment Bank has been supporting Chan since Dialogue In The Dark started in 2012, and in 2018 provided seed money to fund Café Includes.
“When Covid-19 hit, many social enterprises working with marginalised communities were affected,” said the bank’s head of group marketing and communications Chuah Sze Phing.
“For Dialogue Includes All, the exhibition could not be in operation, and that was a large part of their income.
“That prompted us to step up our support for social enterprises.
“We launched our HumanKIND project, of which the central philosophy is our shared humanity. In a time of distancing and isolation, it is all the more important to reconnect and amplify the essential qualities that make us human – kindness, compassion and empathy.”
Meanwhile, since the exhibition was no longer held, Café Includes relocated from The Weld in Kuala Lumpur to Jalan Gasing in Petaling Jaya. It was listed on Grab, offering breakfast and lunch sets.
“We made a pledge to sponsor 100 Café Includes orders every Friday from Feb 19 until the end of the year. On Fridays, the first hundred orders made via Grab, at a maximum RM20, would be fully funded by Kenanga.
“We committed to 100 packs because that is the amount required for Café Includes to break even,” Chuah said.
Kenanga invites the public to join in to support Café Includes and other social enterprises to help change lives for the better.
The bank will also work with other frontline NGOs that assist marginalised B40 groups and the homeless, to ensure some of these sponsored food orders reach those who are in need and may not have access to online ordering systems.
For the public, it is not about spending extra money, Chuah stressed.
“You’re going to buy a meal anyway, so if you channel that purchase through a social enterprise, what you’re really doing is stretching your dollar to make a positive social impact,” she said.
To show support for Café Includes, use the Grab code humanKIND every Friday from now till Dec 31, 2021, to redeem the food sets sponsored by Kenanga Investment Bank.