This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 8, 2020 - April 14, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: MyKasih Foundation, a private charity organisation, has raised RM3 million in food aid for the poor.

In a statement yesterday, the foundation noted that since the movement control order (MCO), 2,500 poor families have received food aid, including 500 Orang Asli households in Pahang, Kelantan, Perak, and Selangor.

“The swift mobilisation of donor funds to targeted beneficiaries was made possible due to the [extensiveness] of retail partners [that] MyKasih Foundation works with, such as Giant, Mydin, The Store, Tesco, AEON, Econsave, TF Value Mart, and Speedmart99, [spreading] across more than 200 outlets nationwide,” it said.

In addition, MyKasih has also offered the use of its cashless welfare distribution platform to organisations and non-governmental organisations, which are supporting the needy with food aid to circumvent challenges and risks in handling the logistics of food aid during the MCO.

“The MyKasih food aid programme runs on proprietary chip technology of the MyKad, which enables charity funds to be channelled in a secure, targeted, and transparent manner, directly to rightful recipients via their MyKad accounts.

“To prevent abuse of donor funds, this programme has a barcode-scanning process, which ensures that only approved items are purchased,” it added.

MyKasih also said recipients are able to choose from 10 approved food product categories that include rice, noodles, cooking oil, eggs, bread, biscuits, seasonings, beverages, and canned food.

“This restores dignity to the underprivileged by letting them choose for themselves the food items they need and to purchase them only when they need,” it added.

The key donors of this programme include MyKasih’s chairman, Tan Sri Dr Ngau Boon Keat, and corporations such as Dialog Group Bhd, Linaco Food Industries, CIMB Foundation, Japan Tobacco International Malaysia, Heineken Malaysia, as well as many individual well-wishers.

Currently, the foundation is supporting 14,000 underprivileged families and students with food aid and educational assistance worth RM12 million.