Poverty and Hunger relief

PERSATUAN KEBAJIKAN BANK MAKANAN 448 JOHOR BAHRU, JOHOR (Also known as 448 FOOD BANK JOHOR)

448 Food Bank (Johor) began with a concept of a group of volunteers-by volunteering 4 hours a month and thus 48 hours a year to help the community.

The number 448 refers to 4 hours a month and 48 hours a year – the minimum number of hours one should spend helping other people, according to 448 Foodbank.

What began as a humble food bank distribution to just five families, 448 Foodbank has grown from a group of eight friends to a network of 500 volunteers helping 300 families – all within three years. It began in 2015 when founder Eric Lim was trying to figure out the root cause of robberies in his community. It occurred to him that nobody would resort to a path of crimes unless they are desperate. He saw a social problem that needed to be addressed, and he was wielded with an “I have to do something” attitude to solve this issue.

Inspired by ride-sharing app Uber that operates without owning any vehicles, founder Eric knew that he could set out and make a difference without assets and big financial capabilities. 448 Foodbank started by receiving commodities from the excess stock from an orphanage in Klang, storing them in a small storeroom at a community centre. They distributed these rations to five families they found out about through word-of-mouth. When the number of families increased, Eric reached out to his circle of friends on Facebook for donations, who then shared his initiative around. Everyone came out to help each other regardless of race or language.

Eric believes it is important to recruit younger volunteers to break a cycle of self-centeredness among our future leaders. Younger volunteers, with priorities on growing their career or family, usually put volunteering aside with “no time” as an excuse. Thus, the minimum four hours a month commitment was introduced to prove that a little effort can go a long way. The strength of a community lies in the contribution and participation of each member. To Eric, everybody must be aware of what goes on in their community. As part of their food distribution programme, 448 Foodbank aims to increase public awareness of social responsibility. Volunteers are encouraged to take their family members along during distributions to witness the lives of the less privileged.

Recipient families are assessed and evaluated according to Foodbank 448’s urgent-needs criteria and are then put on a six-month food bank programme. In the six months, the volunteers, who go through L1 and L2 training, give the families the support and motivation they need to get back on track; to have the families see that their community cares for them, that they are not alone.

448 Foodbank plans to expand as a logistics centre to support other organisations in distributing food to those in need. A challenge they currently face is in their commodity resources – sometimes they have to pool their own monies, use their emergency fund, or ask the public for more donations. They currently have a CSR Food Adoption Programme for companies to commit to donating foods.

“𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 – 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭,” said Eric.

https://imsha.org/directory/persatuan-sukarelawan-berkat-kasih-jb-448-foodbank/

448 FOOD BANK JOHOR 食物银行，始于几位热心志工的行善概念：他们希望可以呼吁人们每个月行善4小时，如此一年便积累48小时的行善经验 。有鉴于此，柔佛福爱志工团于2015年7月成立了。在过去两年多里，448运动影响及鼓励超过500位善心人士加入志工团队。同时，志工团已帮助逾1000个贫弱家庭度过生活难关。

透过设立食物库存银行，福爱志工团向社会大众招募食物存入食物银行，每个月派发食物给遭遇贫困、单亲或疾病的家庭；这些家庭面对的处境不一，比如夫妻突然丧偶、家庭成员罹患严重疾病、老人无依独居、单亲母亲独立持家、个别缘故导致顿失收入，以及收入低于1500令吉。志工团及时伸出援手，助家庭走过艰难时刻，让他们有足够时间恢复自立能力 。