HEINEKEN Cares: Food Aid For The Needy

In support of Malaysia’s recovery, Heineken Malaysia Bhd has been distributing meals to communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through its HEINEKEN Cares programme. Since the programme’s launch on 26 July 2021, more than 94,000 meals have been distributed to over 7,300 beneficiaries as of 31 October 2021. The ultimate goal of the programme is to provide 150,000 meals by 31 December 2021 to communities affected by job or income loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In partnership with eight non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and social enterprises, HEINEKEN Malaysia has channelled food aid to assist vulnerable communities throughout Peninsular and East Malaysia.

Dialogue Includes All, a social enterprise that promotes social inclusion for people with disabilities, distributed packed meals specially prepared and cooked by a team comprising individuals with vision impairments, as well as those with autism and physical disabilities. The meals were channelled towards households in the B40 group, refugee families as well as the disabled communities and needy folks at various care centres.

Meanwhile Epic (Extraordinary People Impacting Communities) Society, a nonprofit organisation focused on providing basic infrastructure, welfare, and capacity building to enable social mobility and relief of poverty within vulnerable communities, delivered food baskets and hygiene kits to Orang Asli families and villagers whose day-to-day activities have been greatly affected by the pandemic and lockdowns.

Beyond Peninsular Malaysia, HEINEKEN Malaysia also partnered with two NGOs namely Hopes Malaysia Welfare Association (HOPES Malaysia) and Hope Place Kuching to assist vulnerable families residing in Sabah and Sarawak.

Kota Kinabalu-based HOPES Malaysia has extended a helping hand to both rural villages and care centres in Sabah.

Through the HEINEKEN Cares programme, HOPES Malaysia purchases fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers in four of HOPES rural project villages to support the local Kota Belud community when agriculture activities and livelihoods have been affected due to the pandemic. The NGO then delivers these food supplies to several targeted care centres to help reduce their financial burdens and provide them with an ample supply of fresh produce.

On the other hand, Hope Place Kuching operates with the mission of channelling basic food aid and necessities to the underprivileged in Sarawak to improve their livelihoods, health and education status. Throughout the pandemic and its collaboration with HEINEKEN Cares, the NGO has reached out to 200 families comprising single parents, abandoned elderlies, B40 individuals as well as persons with disabilities, to supply grocery items such as rice, biscuits, noodles, cooking oil, sugar, and eggs, among others.

To help mitigate the negative impacts of a prolonged lockdown, HEINEKEN Malaysia launched HEINEKEN Cares, an initiative combining employee wellness with community purpose. Through the programme, for every 1,000 steps a HEINEKEN Malaysia employee takes, HEINEKEN Malaysia will commit 1 meal to a person in need, with the ultimate goal of achieving 150,000,000 steps for 150,000 meals for vulnerable communities across Malaysia by 31 December 2021. The HEINEKEN Cares programme is administered by SPARK Foundation, HEINEKEN Malaysia’s CSR arm.

HEINEKEN Malaysia will reach out to its regional sales team to collaborate with its business partners in the month of December to bring HEINEKEN Cares to the regions.

Further information on HEINEKEN Malaysia’s sustainability and initiatives can be found at HEINEKEN Malaysia’s official website: https://www.heinekenmalaysia.com/ or SPARK Foundation’s official website: https://sparkfoundation.com.my/

To help the vulnerable and those in need, feel free to contact the HEINEKEN Cares partners listed above:

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