Starting out in 2015 as a soup kitchen providing cooked meals for the homeless in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Food Bank Malaysia now has a 18,000 sq ft warehouse which provides the underprivileged with everything from instant noodles to toiletries.

Founded by Moses Sin Voon Loy, the organisation got off the ground at the Mega Chinese Methodist Church in Kota Damansara, where Sin and a few other congregants would pool money every week to distribute up to 200 meals in areas like Chow Kit and Jalan Hang Tuah.

Through it all, the bubbly Kuala Lumpur native was a vocal advocate of food banks, which were slowly starting to catch on in the country. Sin, 59, went to shopping malls and other churches to spread the word about the benefits of food banks, which they then formed themselves.

As word got around about Food Bank Malaysia, businesses started to come forward to donate food and other items for Sin and his volunteers to hand out.

“I realised a food bank could provide more than what the soup kitchens at the time were doing, it could give more,” he said.

“So from there, I started to call up suppliers, manufacturers and wholesalers to support the programme. That’s how I started.”

Now, visitors to Food Bank Malaysia’s warehouse – which they moved into four months ago – will see shelves of not only all sorts of non-perishable food but also items such as clothes, school bags, diapers and detergent.

“Last time, we (only) thought about giving food, but we know people need more than that, especially during this time. People are looking for more than just food on the table,” he said.

Formerly in the telecommunications industry, Sin said he was looking for a productive way to spend his time post-retirement when he decided to dive into charity work full time, fulfilling a lifelong interest in charity, which he developed as a child at church.

He is grateful that numerous companies have taken note of his work and come forward with donations, most of which are excess stock or items with a short shelf life.

Some of the items at the warehouse’s shelves are purchased at below market cost. At other times, manufacturers and suppliers only recover logistics and transport fees when they sell to him.

All these items are either given out to the needy or sold to generate income to help Food Bank Malaysia pay for people’s household bills or the organisation’s operational costs.

Among those Food Bank Malaysia sells the donated items to are churches, food banks, NGOs and other charitable bodies, who then use them for their own charity programmes.

Stressing that Food Bank Malaysia does not accept cash donations, Sin said the organisation also stays afloat by selling donated grocery items at night markets.

He noted that the companies’ trust in Food Bank Malaysia was proof of its professionalism and ability to operate as an entity, pointing out that businesses were now more confident that their donations would reach the needy effectively.

“For corporations to really get involved, they want to see that you’re running an organisation properly. Back then, they used to give us one or two boxes to make us feel good. Now they ask us how many we want,” he said.

“There are a lot of generous people out there who, if you build rapport with, are willing to support you.”

Admitting that being self-financed and independent is a “painful process”, Sin said Food Bank Malaysia’s volunteers had to dip into their own pockets to “get things going” for a long period of time.

“We cannot be dependent on people all the time.

“You may have some billionaire friends who might help you once. ‘Here is RM2,000 … take it.’ But that’s all. You won’t ask them for a second time. They will get tired of you. Or they won’t have breakfast with you again,” he said.

More than just helping out the needy with food and other daily essentials, Sin hopes that a mantra he has introduced will have a lasting impact on the ground.

Like the #KitaJagaKita movement and White Flag campaign aimed at helping those affected by the pandemic, Sin is hoping that his own slogan, “Sayang Jiran Mu”, will be just as powerful.

“Remember your neighbour when you have food. When you are cooking, fry an egg for your neighbour. If you go shopping, buy some extra bread or rice or onions for your neighbour,” he said of his concept.

“This is ‘community social responsibility’. This is ‘Sayang Jiran Mu’.”

Sin may be contacted at 011 7305 6835.