KUANTAN, June 30 — Social media stories of people who lost their jobs and are suffering in hunger during the COVID-19 pandemic deeply touched a teacher who decided set up a food bank in front of her house in Indera Mahkota, here.
Murnizam Muda, 42, a teacher of Sekolah Kebangsaan Assunta Convent said she decided to lend a hand as she could not bear to see members of the community who could not afford to buy food especially those with young children.
Fondly called Cikgu Murni, the mother of four said despite spending thousands of ringgit from her own savings each week, she considered it as a contribution to society apart from being a full-time school teacher.
“I started giving assistance last year by sending foodstuff to the homes of needy people but of late the COVID-19 cases have gone up very high and I was afraid of going out, so starting early this month, I set up a table under a tree and put basic food items and anybody can come to take them for free,” she told Bernama recently.
The food bank appeared like a mini sundry shop which is open from 8 am to 7 pm for people to pick up essential foodstuffs such as rice, flour, sugar, eggs, cooking oil and soy sauce.
She said almost every day after the home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) session is over, she would go out to buy the basic food items at the supermarket around Kuantan for distribution the next day.
“I bought them in large quantity daily to top up the items on the table, about four to seven times a week, spending more than RM500, which is a large sum but I am happy as they do not have to go hungry.
“There were many sad cases of suicides and hunger recently, my contribution may not be much, but I hope it has helped ease the burden of those in need,” she said.
In fact, according to Cik Murni, her little effort has caught the attention of her neighbours and colleagues who also contributed in cash and kind.
“Sometimes, they would just put the food items on the table while some contributed cash for me to buy the groceries,” she said.
According to the English and Arts teacher, sometimes she would engage delivery service to help individuals who have no transport and are living quite far away.
“Some contact me via Facebook and told me their problems such as running out of money or not having transport, so I engage runners to send the foodstuff s to their houses,” said the teacher who hailed from Terengganu.
Sources: BERNAMA