KUCHING, June 23 (Sin Chew Daily) — A food bank has been set up by Farm Direct Shop offering food to people from all walks of live on a daily basis.

Set up on June 14, the food bank offers free food to people regardless of their religious and ethnic backgrounds on a first come first served basis.

Members of the public can also take the food placed on shelves or the fridge after the shop closes at 5pm.

Farm Direct Shop director Wei Hua Feng told Sin Chew Daily that many might be driving big cars and living in luxury homes but are trapped in financial difficulty now.

Wei said those who need food are welcome to pick up from the food bank.

"A woman called to ask me if I require one to disclose identity card details. I said no. She was too shy to pick up the food if IC details were required.

"Both her husband and her were out of job but they were driving Camry," said Wei.

"I told them to come over. We do not check on people's background and we do not judge people," said Wei.

The idea of setting up a food bank was simple, Wei said, adding that the objective was just to help people.

Farm Direct Shop at Jalan Setia Raja was set up in 2019 to sell farm products and handicrafts made by farmers or the underprivileged group. 80% of the proceeds will go to the producers and farmers.

It is a platform for them to make profit, start entrepreneurship and crowd funding.

Another came to pick up the food and contributed RM5 to the food bank. That was the only RM5 he had with him.

Some came with farm products to exchange for food.

Wei said the food bank had helped several hundred families since it was set up.

The families took rice, biscuits, noodles, eggs, canned food, salt and sugar on a daily basis.

As more families came over to pick up the food, more shops, social organizations and members of the public have contributed food for the food bank to continue operating.

Wei said a win-win situation was created as the shop bought farm products from farmers with funds donated by well-wishers.

Farm Direct Shop staff have now become volunteers to pack and distribute food cooked by the housewives.

"When I see people take the food that I have donated, I start thinking of things that I have owned and the issue of food wastage which I have neglected for so long," said a contributor.

Farm Direct Shop hopes that more shops would set up food banks to offer free food to the needy.

For more details, please visit the Farm Direct Shop Facebook or call 014-684 8877 or 017-262 6389.