The recent rising food prices have left Malaysians with empty pockets. Many have also started to spend less to cope with inflation.
Meanwhile, soup kitchens in the city were also adversely impacted by this with some operators worrying if they can sustain their operations with the dwindling contributions from corporations and members of the public.
According to NST, Pertiwi Soup Kitchen founder Datuk Munirah Abdul Hamid said her main concern was being able to provide only 400 and 1,000 packs of meals for lunch and dinner respectively to the homeless and hardcore poor at the Medan Tuanku and Chow Kit areas.
“We need to be able to sustain our operations, which we have been doing for some time. But with the rising food prices, I am not sure how long we can go on. This is my main worry.”
“We can cope for now, but with corporations cutting back on their contributions, our resources are getting smaller. If we keep going like this, I am afraid we can only do this for the next seven to eight months,” she said.
Munirah said the soup kitchen wants to continue serving those in need, but their reserves are depleting fast.
Meanwhile, she said her team had been looking at other ways to generate income. “We have approached some corporations for fundraising, but we don’t expect much from them,” she said.
She shared that a few corporations had expressed interest to help would be able to sustain her operations only temporarily. “I will not give up. I will continue to knock on more doors for help,” she added.
Munirah said that the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen is seeking contributions to provide food aid worth RM5.50 which comprises rice, an option of fish, chicken or prawn, vegetables, and fruits.
Meanwhile, over at Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur (DJKL), its chairman, Mohd Ezzuandi Ngadi said their current contributions could last only for 6 months.
“We have regular contributors, but the amount has reduced greatly. We are worried, but we have to make do with what we have,” he said.
He shared that DJKL feeds about 180 to 200 persons every Sunday evening at Jalan Panggung.
“Raw food ingredients are getting expensive. There have been days when money was tight and in order to keep within budget, we prepared vegetarian food instead. We tried to include fruit slices in the food pack, but even fruits are costly now,” he said.
For those who wish to help, you can check out DJKL and Pertiwi Soup Kitchen’s social media pages here.
