In light of the COVID-19 case, we have had to halt our PBKL pickups and focus mainly on dried packaged food items received through our food donation drive. This has put a damper on our operations, and essentially means that we would not be able to provide for all our charities and other beneficiaries as we usually do.

However, we are trying our best to make sure that TLFP continues to operate during the crisis and beyond. We are looking at ways to continue providing sustenance to our most critical charities which are heavily reliant on our provisions. These are self run charities with very little money to spend. We have identified seven of our most vulnerable charities, with a total of 250 pax. For many of them, and especially the refugee children, a meal cooked with food donated by TLFP is often their only meal for the day.

Although ‘​feeding the hungry, not the landfill​’ is our mantra, we look at this critical time to focus on providing food for the needy first and foremost, as food source becomes scarce, especially for the B40 group. We will also have to look into buying food and supplies to serve their most essential needs, and provide the goods to them with greater frequency. We know that with additional funding we would be able to expand our coverage to more than the seven of our most vulnerable charities during this crisis.

We are also very grateful to our volunteers who would brave all kinds of weather and conditions to do the good work of delivering food to the needy. As such, during these difficult times, we will begin provisioning critical allowance to our volunteer drivers.

TLFP is also looking at ways to collaborate with food delivery service to provide cooked meals to some of our charities. These meals will also incur some cost for preparation, and a platform will also be launched soon to allow people to also contribute to this initiative.

All these efforts will of course be conducted within the guidelines of the restricted movement order. We are also in the midst of tailoring our operational procedures to suit health and safety standards during this time of unprecedented global crisis.

Beyond this crisis, TLFP is determined to continue and grow our operations, work with more partners and stakeholders to ensure that we are able to provide to more underprivileged communities. We are already in talks to provide to other PPRs, and are coordinating efforts

with other food banks through the National Foodbank Foundation to ensure the needs of the B40 community are strategically met.

TLFP is in it for the long haul, and although ideally in a perfect society there would be no need for us or any food banks, the global reality on the ground is different.

We are genuinely thankful for the generosity shown by all during this time of crisis and will ensure that your donations are fully optimised to meet the needs of our beneficiaries.

Thank you

Mohd Syazwan
General Manager, The Lost Food Project