PJ City Food Bank all set to open
NOBLE OBJECTIVES: Petaling Jaya City Council aims to reduce food waste and help the poor with new project
Donated food items stored at the PJ City Food Bank which will be launched soon.
KUALA LUMPUR: THE Petaling Jaya City Council is now putting the final touches to the PJ City Food Bank. The project, which collects food items from the public to be distributed to the poor, is an initiative under the Petaling Jaya Local Agenda 21 and a collaborative effort between the local council and National Solid Waste Management Department.
The council has rented a business centre in Section 8 here for the purpose.
A recent Streets check showed the food bank filled with packaged food, resembling a warehouse.
Among the food items stored there were donated by hypermarkets such as Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Nestle Products Sdn Bhd and Tesco Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
Bakeries such as Cherry Cake House will be contributing pastries and other food items to the bank.
A van donated by Syarikat Kayu Nasi Kandar will be used to help distribute the food items to the poor and needy in the city. Students from Saito College helped to produce the logo and designs for the food bank van.
Mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman was moved to set up the food bank after listening to an educational and informative talk by The National Coordinator from Ministry of Housing and Local Government Dr Theng Lee Chong on the subject.
Planning and Development department assistant director Nazihah Jaafar said the initial idea was to gather food that was nearing its expiry date to be distributed to the needy in the city.
"We initially wanted to gather food nearing the expiry date to be channelled to the poor. However, we will first start with the dry packaged food items," she said.
The council has two staff members and one driver in charge of the food bank.
"We have staff to conduct food inventory and inspect the food quality," said Nazihah.
The project has 60 registered volunteers.
The food bank concept is widely practised in countries such as Japan, Australia and Singapore, said Nazihah.
She said many food outlets were not keen to donate food close to the expiry date. However, in the second phase, the council might distribute food close to the expiry date.
Source : New Straits Times
Date : 20 September 2012
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