The movement, called the Dua Ringgit Project, is the brainchild of multiple Leo Clubs from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, community-based organisation Keningau Centennial and eight secondary schools.
Supported by Lions Club International, the project aims to reach out to more underprivileged people after coming off the back of a successful first phase of food distribution where it managed to feed 250 families.
But with most of the funds in the first round collected among supporters, friends and family members – only RM7,000 has been collected since Oct 21 – the project is now banking on the generosity of the public.
“The first phase started last Oct 15 when we managed to collect RM10,000 in just five days,” UMS Leo Club president Bradley Keith Victor told FMT.
“With that money, the Lions Club bought the food items and distributed them to 250 families in Kota Kinabalu, Keningau and Tawau.
“Among those we have helped were stateless people and the homeless. One of them resides in a dilapidated house in Keningau and walks 5km every day to ask families living near the town for spare change so he can have a meal.”
Victor, who is the donation drive coordinator, said they hope to collect RM40,000 to feed 1,000 families.
The next phase will be expanded to include underprivileged households in Tambunan and Tenom districts as well as some parts in east coast Sandakan.
Victor said the name Dua Ringgit Project was based on research which showed that underprivileged families typically spend an average of less than RM7 a day for all the three daily meals combined.
“That means it’s about RM2 for each meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner). That’s where the Dua Ringgit Project came from.”
He said they hope to provide RM50 worth of food packages comprising essential items to each family.
“If we sacrifice small luxuries like a Sunday ice cream cone just for a day or two, we can already feed a family for a month,” he said.
Victor said the Leo club members were moved on seeing the plight of poor families who lived in harsh conditions, which were made worse by the pandemic.
“We actually planned to go around giving them mee bungkus or nasi lemak but since we can’t go back to university (due to the CMCO), we decided instead to host an online donation drive and later sought help from the Lions Club,” he said.
Victor, a final-year international relations student, now works part time in Seremban while attending online classes at night.
He said they also planned to put aside RM10,000 to buy milk powder for babies. “Some of the families don’t have the means to purchase milk and many of the children we saw were malnourished. They asked if this can be one of the items in our package,” he said.
Those interested to help may visit the project’s Facebook page or donate to the Lions Club of Keningau Downtown at Alliance Bank account number 1004-8001-0066-005.
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