Volvo Trucks recently launched its corporate social responsibility initiative comprising the contribution of a heavy-duty Volvo FM330 4x2 rigid truck complete with customised body frabrication to the Kechara Soup Kitchen Society (KSK).
Volvo Trucks Supporting Kechara Soup Kitchen
The Kechara Soup Kitchen Society are a registered non‐profit organisation that provides food sustenance and basic medical care for the homeless and poor communities in Malaysia.
The initiative is part of Volvo Group’s global corporate social responsibility programme called the Seasonal Gift which is carried out annually around the globe, with the key objective to creating better welfare and prosperity for local communities by supporting meaningful social causes.
The truck, once handed over to KSK, will serve as a multi-purpose vehicle for food collection and distribution, mobile clinic and mobile space for educational activities for poor communities in the rural areas.
Mitch Peden, Managing Director of Volvo Malaysia shares, “We at Volvo Trucks are very excited to have identified KSK as the beneficiary of our Seasonal Gift corporate social responsibility fund.
“KSK’s charity efforts emphasise on reducing hunger and social issues, which help raise the quality of life for the homeless and poor families from all backgrounds. We also understand that KSK has been actively running a food bank programme and had been facing several logistical challenges. Thus, we believe our truck can truly help KSK to operate more effectively for the benefit of the communities."
Henry Ooi, President of KSK said, "We are very honoured to receive this generosity from Volvo Trucks and its partners who are supporting this truck donation initiative. Through our food bank programme, we collect large amount of food surpluses from donors and deliver to multiple locations on a daily basis. In doing so, our drivers had to make multiple trips as we only have a small vehicle.
"This truck donation and fund-raising initiative spearheaded by Volvo Trucks will undoubtedly increase our efficiency and capacity, enabling us to save time and food wastage. We will definitely be able to help more people in the community too."
On the truck donation, Volvo Trucks said that it will take several months to have the truck fully ready. This is because it involves various aspects from designing, planning and building the customised truck body to handling matters concerning licensing and approvals. Thus, the actual handover of the completed truck will be done in the second quarter of next year.
As lead sponsor, Volvo Trucks will be donating the truck chassis and is also collaborating with industry partner Seri Zenith Engineering Sdn Bhd, a manufacturer of semi-trailers and bodies for commercial vehicles to plan and fabricate the custom-designed body of the truck specially for KSK.
Apart from donating the truck chassis and spearheading this initiative, Volvo Trucks will also be covering the costs for acquiring Goods Driving License for the drivers and truck repair and maintenance. On top of that, Volvo Trucks will also be providing free training for KSK’s truck drivers on how to maximise all the safety and fuel-efficient features of the Volvo FM truck.
