Kechara hopes to help people break the poverty cycle

Kechara Soup Kitchen has gone beyond the provision of meals to offer more substantial assistance to those in need.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kechara Soup Kitchen (Kechara) is organising a nationwide food collection campaign in conjunction with World Food Day on Oct 16 to assist those struggling to meet their basic food needs.

Kechara marketing director Justin Cheah said the charity has formulated a three-pronged strategy aimed at preventing people it had previously assisted from slipping back into a cycle of despair.

He said Kechara has gone beyond the provision of meals to offer more substantial assistance to those in need.

“We started off as a soup kitchen but, after doing a lot of work for the people on the streets, we realised the root cause of it is poverty.

“That’s why in 2012, we decided to expand our operations to food banking,” Cheah told FMT.

He said Kechara wants to relieve families of some aspects of their financial burden to enable them to reallocate their income towards other responsibilities, such as their children’s education and housing expenses.

By offering them a constant supply of food, Cheah said Kechara hopes to ease some of their worries so they can focus on generating income to sustain themselves.

He said Kechara also offers training to equip recipients with skill sets that will allow them to make a living.

“We came up with some programmes, such as sewing and baking, to train people with the necessary skill sets to help them generate some extra income.

“Along the way, they get trained and get paid for it so that they can bring home something more. When they get to spend some time here, it’s like a moment away from their problems,” said Cheah.

The organisation also extends support in the form of basic medical care, education for children, rehoming and welfare aid, delivering a comprehensive package aimed at reducing the number of people requiring assistance.

“We felt that by getting to the root of the issue, we can reduce the number of people on the streets and reduce the number of people who are suffering from poverty,” he said.

Cheah urged the public to help ensure a continuous supply of food through donations given the high number of dependents and Kechara’s one-week stock turnover rate.

“We’re already helping about 3,000 families on a regular basis and we are giving them provisions on an almost monthly basis.

“The worry is to make sure that we are able to meet our commitments and to make sure that there’s a constant supply of food,” he said.

Donors may drop off their contributions at Kechara’s food banks in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka and Johor Bahru.

Non-perishable food items, such as rice, cooking oil, flour, dry and instant noodles, canned foods and biscuits, must have halal certification. - FMT