The National Committee for Community Services & Health, Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC), continues to support programmes to distribute daily essentials to those affected by COVID-19. In November, the MRC collaborated with The Lost Food Project to facilitate food distribution all around Johor. Each food parcel contained the items shown above (Super Special Tempatan 5% (5kg), Minyak Masak Knife (1kg), Yeos Sardin in Tomato Sauce (2 tins), Gula Pasir Kasar (1kg), Garam Biasa (500g), Bawang Merah China, Kentang, Bawang Putih, Eggs (grade B), Cap Kapal Layar Meehoon, Babas Meat Curry Powder, Dry Chilli Biasa, Sabun May (3+1), Antabax Showerfoam (250ml) and Fresh & White (160g).
The project was supported by MRC, The Lost Food Project, 3M, ASEAN CARES which is a programme that aims to help at-risk communities with food security and hygiene crises in Malaysia and Thailand with the support of Unitedway, ASEANFoundation MLC Global Resources, and Jati Signature.
The ASEAN COVID-19 Response Program has been established, with the support of the ASEAN Foundation, United Way Worldwide, and 3M, to strengthen the awareness and resilience of the ASEAN affected populations on the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, it is helping support the immediate needs of the affected, at-risk and vulnerable communities with particular focus in Malaysia. As you can see here, and if you have been following my reports on the activities of the MRC, many many different organisations have been coming together at this difficult time for the benefit of the community at risk. And this is where the volunteers of the MRC shine because they have been doing this kind of work for many years before the coronavirus pandemic hit, so they have systems in place to help other NGOs offering assistance today.
There is a lot of work which goes on behind the scenes when you see photos of MRC volunteers handing over Goodie Bags to grateful recipients. Not only do the goods have to be sourced, purchased, and stored, they have to be sorted and plans made to make sure recipients will be able to meet up with the delivery vans.
Well, November marks the change to the northeast monsoon period, and this tends to be a major flood period in Johor. This time last year the MRC was heavily involved in supporting the activities of the flood evacuation centres (at Pekan Nanas and Layang-Layang). So, when The Lost Food Project wanted to deliver packages to Mersing district, what should have been a simple operation became a bit of a challenge! Access by road had been lost due to flooding, so the supplies had to be delivered by boat on the Kahang river. The MRC always finds a way to get things done!
The target communities were Orang Asli villages in Mersing: Kg Punan - Endau Rompin (40-50 families), Kg Terowoh - Endau Rompin (30 families), Kg Pucu - Endau Rompin (30 families), Kg Tanah Abang - Nitar (30 families), Kg Tuan - Nitar (30 families), and Kg Hubong - Endau (30 families).
Other deliveries were more straightforward, and here are just a few example: to Batu Pahat….
to Kluang….
and to Segamat.
One of the goals of The Lost Food Project is “Feed the Hungry, Not the Landfill”. Malaysia is lucky that there are several NGOs, in addition to The Lost Food Project, organising Food Banks to “Feed the Hungry” where shoppers can leave non-perishable goods in special boxes located outside supermarkets (see Food Banks). This makes the process of donation simple as you just buy a few extra things on your routine shop and leave them for the less fortunate.
As for “...Not the Landfill’, the Lost Food Project stepped in quickly when Patience SS Chee announced on the Johor Bahru Expat Community FB page that she had 200 kg of papayas to give away. The Lost Food Project were able to distribute these to their receiving agencies, and ultimately fulfilled their main goal to “Feed the Hungry, Not the Landfill”.
Click here to see more about the activities of the Malaysian Red Crescent.
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