Klinik Anda's community table offers food packs to those out of work

For the last two weeks, patients visiting Klinik Anda in Wangsa Melawati have also been greeted by the clinic's "community table" where those who are out of work can take home a family pack of essential items.

The idea is the brainchild of Dr Nur Sakinah Kamarul Bahrin who runs the clinic with her husband.

She told Malaysiakini they decided to reach out to those in need in their community.

"This is because there are many people who are stranded, without income and struggling.

"The idea happened during my confinement as I had just given birth. We know that our business is not doing good during the MCO, it has dropped by 50 percent. And we know that if we are not good, it is much worse for them.

"So we try to give back. We are targetting those on a daily wage," said Dr Sakinah.

The clinic, which opened in March 2017, has been overwhelmed by the response. 

"We didn't expect it but the first time we set out 100 packs, they were gone in less than five hours. The second time 100 packs were taken in two to three hours.

"We didn't want to promote it because we didn't want people coming from far and then being disappointed (to find them all gone)," she added.

The notice they put up at the community table invites those out of work to take a food pack while reminding them to be considerate of others and not take more than is needed.

Dr Sakinah estimated the value of each food pack to be around RM45 to RM50, saying it consists of rice, cooking oil, sardines, sugar, salt and biscuits.

Earlier during the MCO, Dr Sakinah had teamed up with her friend Noor Inora Putri Noor Zainy of Audelia Natural to help in a crowdfunding initiative in raising RM67,000 for almost 20 Covid-19 screening centres in red zone areas, mainly around the Klang Valley.

The "Do Something Good, Do Something Great" initiative surpassed the original target of RM50,000 and they reached out to centres in Setapak, Sungai Besi, Titiwangsa, Petaling Bahagia, Puchong and many other areas.

"We reached out to them, basically those lacking in basics and asked for a list of what they needed, and we provided the items for them."

Dr Sakinah said that there was a bit of a backlash but she is not deterred in reaching out to help people. She is also leading a team of volunteers in making personal protective equipment to donate to frontliners. - Mkini