Giving Food for Thought via SOS!

 It is truly heart rending to see young kids and poor single parents suffering from hunger pangs because there just isn’t enough money to buy food. The slow economy makes the situation doubly worse because financial help dries up completely as money becomes more scarce and relatives or friends hold back on the necessary help needed.

One single mother with three young kids was so desperate because there was no money left of her meager salary to buy food in the third week of January, she stood outside a bus stop to beg for coins - any coins - just so she could get some rice for her little ones.

Jumble Station with the help of  the management team from the Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, came to her rescue and brought tears to her eyes with the timely donation of 10kg of ‘beras’, a big 5litre of cooking oil and bags full of tinned foods and packed beverages.

Sunway Pyramid’s “Some Of  Us” or SOS – “Food For Thought” initiative was launched on January 11 till February 24 2013 in collaboration with Kechara to assist Jumble Station’s poor single parents and their kids. Kechara’s video is a real heartbreaking peep at two contrasting circumstances – the comfortably rich and the pitifully poor in our society.     

“To some a normal, daily beverage – to others an indulgence they seldom enjoy, to others a frequent easy meal (fast food) to others a treat they can only dream of – to some weekly grocery shopping to others necessities they can’t afford – This Festive Season let’s make a difference – Share your love, joy and abundance with those in need – you can make a difference!”   

Wooden SOS crates were placed just outside the Cold Storage and AEON Supermarket in the Sunway Pyramid itself for shoppers to do their bit for charity. Items requested were non perishable items such as rice, instant noodles, instant beverages, oats, milk powder, crackers/biscuits, cooking oil, salt, sugar, pasta and canned food etc.

The response was gratifying indeed indicating that poor economy notwithstanding, Malaysians are still a generous, compassionate and giving lot. Sunway Pyramid’s chief operating officer Kevin Tan and Kechara’s treasurer and project director Chua Siong Woan were on hand to personally hand over some of the groceries to an initial group of 22 poor single parents and their ever hungry kids at Angsana, Subang Mewah, USJ1, Subang Jaya.

Many of the recipients were so tearfully grateful for the food donations, they could not stop shaking hands and thanking the organizers for such unexpected blessings showered on them in this Chinese New Year festive season. For Annie Yap, a single mum of two youngsters, the groceries were a godsend during the Lunar New Year and an auspicious start to the Year of the Snake!

Single mums Anne from Desa Mentari sums it up best when she SMSed her gratitude – “TQ very much for all the things” while ZaZa a single mum with 4 ‘princesses’ from KL texted a “ Thank You. For what you all did, just had to say “TQ and God Bless Your Day!” To all the wonderful and caring participants in this most recent SOS programme, Jumble Station on behalf of the single parents in network “Salute your kindness and generosity! May the Lunar Year of the Snake be as bountiful as the harvest that SOS garnered!”