Chest of generosity

Charity begins right here, say Lariche (left), Lee (centre) and Chew

A LITTLE boy stands on tiptoe to get a better look at what’s inside the big metal chest. Next to him, a man with a beard quietly scans the blackboard above it, running through the shopping list of sorts written out in white chalk.

Right at the top are the words Community Chest & You. On the other side is a wall that offers some background information on various charity homes.

The chest that’s generating so much interest is a community charity initiative. “This is a charity bin where individuals can donate non-perishable food and household items that we will collect and send to the homes on our list,” says Anna Chew, managing director of Venusbuzz, a women’s online website.

It all started with Brian Lariche, who believed that as an individual, he could make a difference. Working with various charities, Lariche decided, back in 2000, to start a simple collection. That has now grown to include seven organisations and benefits over 400 women and children.

His wish then was simple – to create greater awareness so that more homes could benefit. This sentiment touched the hearts of the women at Venus and the management of Bangsar Village. Venus is always keen to create programmes where women and children can be involved while Bangsar Village is active with community-based projects, such as the Kids For Kids charity.

Without hesitation, the two groups decided to team up with Lariche so that his efforts could be extended further and Community Chest & You was launched in March.

Lee Joo Khim, special projects manager of Bangsar Village, says: “We feel that most customers are very charity-minded and want to help but they have no idea how to go about doing it. So we’re making it easy for them. When they come here and see the charity bin and the shopping list, they can do their bit to help by donating the items needed.”

It is not necessary to buy the items at the Village Grocer supermarket as long as you drop the items into the Community Chest in Bangsar Village. For a complete list of items required, check out the Venusbuzz website at www.venusbuzz.com

“First, the various homes will email us a list of what they need. Then we put the list on the blackboard to inform the shoppers,” explains Lee.

“After we’ve collected the required number of a certain item, it’s crossed off the list. Surplus items are kept for when we next get a similar request.”

The list comprises non-perishable items such as canned food and dried food, diapers and detergent. “We discourage the homes from asking for things that they can afford to buy on their own, like salt, for example,” says Lariche.

Another no-no is luxury items. “No corned beef,” they chorus in unison. Apparently they actually received one such request.

“A 340g can of corned beef costs RM15. That amount of money can buy you two chickens!” says Lariche, chuckling wryly.

Donations from the Community Chest are picked up on Wednesday mornings when representatives from the homes come and get the goods.

“We do check that the homes are not asking for collections from elsewhere,” says Chew, an outdoor sports enthusiast. “We have very stringent criteria to make sure no one is profiting from this in any funny way.”

At present, there are six homes on the team’s list. “We basically do a six-week rotation. When the list comes, the homes start to budget to see what their requirements are. They then give us their list, which will hopefully last them for six weeks,” says Lee, a mother of one.

As the three parties involved in the Community Chest have decided to focus on women and children, the recipients are essentially women and children’s homes in the Klang Valley.

“Some requested to be put on the list and some were referred to us. We then checked them out to find out what their requirements were. Brian has a lot of experience in this, so we tap his knowledge,” says Chew.

Sustainability is the team’s biggest challenge. “This is something we can’t foresee,” admits Lariche. “The bin has been running for almost five months and so far, it has been smooth. We have an understanding with the homes that we collect what we can. Most of the time we manage to fulfil the requests but sometimes we don’t.”

They want to ensure that there’s no donor fatigue. “We want to meet the requirements as best as we can, so we’re planning to do a series of community awareness programmes around the Community Chest.”

They’re also thinking of encouraging the homes, especially women and HIV centres, to consider income-generating projects. “Maybe for festive periods, they can make products that people want, set up a booth and sell these,” says Lariche enthusiastically.

“We want to teach them a little bit about marketing, like making products that people want to buy, not just what they enjoy making. We think associating with a commercial retail centre will also give them a lot of feedback. That’s what we’re going to do in the long run.”

Once the food collection initiative is running steadily, the team will work on other programmes. They’re hoping to attract more corporations and other partners to come in and support the project.

“If more people can commit their time and effort to adopt one of the homes, we can then take on new homes. If a company is thinking about doing a CSR programme, why not try this? The process is already in place and it works,” says Lariche.

Community Chest & U is outside the Village Grocer supermarket in Bangsar Village 1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.