KUALA LUMPUR: Operators of soup kitchens in the city are worried if they will be able to sustain their operations amid rising food prices and dwindling contributions from corporations and members of the public.
Pertiwi Soup Kitchen founder Datuk Munirah Abdul Hamid said her main concern was being able to provide 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," she told the New Straits Times.
"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.
"We want to continue serving those in need, but our reserves (resources) are depleting fast," she said.
With sponsors cutting down on their contributions, Munirah 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 said a few corporations which 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 said.
Munirah explained that Pertiwi Soup Kitchen is seeking contributions to provide food aid worth RM5.50 that comprise rice; an option of fish, chicken or prawn; vegetables; and fruits.
"What we do is totally for the people. We do not take salaries. The contributions go entirely into food costs," she said.
Pertiwi Soup Kitchen, she added, worked closely with their counterparts to provide each other with food items when required, such as eggs, onions and cooking oil.
"We work together to prevent unnecessary food waste through a daily schedule. We work on a rotation basis (in distributing food) and give what others do not.
"We will take over if there are those who want to throw in the towel," she said.
For Dapur Jalanan Kuala Lumpur (DJKL), the current contributions could last only for six months.
Its chairman, Mohd Ezzuandi Ngadi, said the charity organisation was exploring other avenues to get more aid.
"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 said DJKL feeds about 180 to 200 persons every Sunday evening at Jalan Panggung.
With the increasing prices of raw food ingredients, he said, the cost of the weekly food distribution rose from RM400 to RM500.
"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.
Apart from the rising prices of food, he said the charity organisation, which is now in its 10th year, was struggling to get volunteers.
"When we started DJKL, volunteers were mostly single as many were students. Now, most members have jobs and are married with children. They find it difficult to juggle between work, family and volunteering duties.
"We do not have many active volunteers on a weekly basis and we hope more people will join us. Most importantly, we need to secure more financial contributors to be able to do what we do."