One such individual is Heidy Quah, the founder of Refuge for the Refugees (RFTR), who was left heartbroken by the over 1,700 families pleading for help.
The leader of the local NGO recently took to Facebook to share the painful reality about the staggering number of families in need of food aid.
Speaking to FMT, Quah explained that the lockdown has been extremely detrimental to the less fortunate who go days without food, trapped in an endless sense of helplessness.
“We have seen a reported rise in suicide cases. Our RFTR hotlines are blowing up on a daily basis — and it’s not just migrants and refugees calling in for aid. Now, even desperate Malaysians are reaching out to us.
“On some days, the calls we get are just heart wrenching; some are only left with RM5 or RM20 to survive. Imagine being in such a situation. We get photographs of empty rice bins, empty milk cans and bare kitchens with no food to spare,” moaned Quah.
She added that most of the families that do reach out to RFTR do not request for much. Instead, they only want to feed their starving families.
“The heartbreaking WhatsApp voice notes we receive from families are truly disturbing. What’s even more saddening is that their troubles don’t end once the sun sets; we still get desperate pleas even at 3am,” explained Quah.
To date, RFTR handles a whopping 100 to 150 distress calls every day. However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for its lean team of 19.
According to Quah, the NGO has a weekly waiting list of about 1,700 families seeking aid.
“We receive more pleas for help because, usually, once we’re on location to distribute aid, we are then approached by more struggling families. We do our best to jot down their details but even then, the sheer volume is overwhelming.”
“For example, we would arrive at a location to help 50 families from our waiting list, but would be greeted by 80 to 90 distraught families instead. They would then share with us their individual dire circumstances and how they lost their jobs,” shared Quah.
She admits that people are terrified by the uncertainty of facing yet another week with empty bellies. What’s more, the growing number of daily calls continues to dampen the RFTR team’s morale.
“We are a tight team and we look out for each other. While we are extremely supportive of one another, we are still emotionally exhausted.
“It’s been a year-and-a-half of lockdowns and the impact on everyone’s well-being – not just the RTFR team – is a huge concern because there seems to be no end in sight.”
Nonetheless, Quah explained that RFTR still soldiers on each week.
The NGO spends a bulk of its time compiling a list of beneficiaries, running background checks on families, and responding to calls and messages. By Saturday, they are out distributing grocery packs to those in most need of it.
“We started out helping 1,000 families during the first MCO. Now with our limited capacity, we are still feeding 500 families on a weekly basis,” said Quah, admitting that she has personally lost count of the thousands of grocery packs that have been distributed thus far.
She highlighted that RFTR’s grocery pack costs RM60 and can sustain a single family for two-and-a-half weeks, and that even the smallest donations make a world of difference.
After her recent Facebook post which garnered 1,300 shares, Quah said more donations have been pouring in and RFTR is grateful for the amazing support.
“Generous people have been donating cash and we also have grocery stores donating supplies to us. Some people are even finding ways to get us corporate sponsorships.”
To those looking to help RFTR’s quest, you can donate to:
CIMB 8000499285
PERSATUAN KEBAJIKAN PERLINDUNGAN KANAK-KANAK PELARIAN
REF: FOODAID
For more information, head on over to Refuge for the Refugee’s Facebook page.