More cheap food for the needy

More cheap food for the needy

JAKARTA (JP): As the economic crisis shows no signs of
abating, more companies, institutions and wealthy individuals are
extending their helping hands to help the poor.

They are either giving away essential commodities or selling
them at below market prices.

On Saturday, privately owned Bank Bali gave away a total of
32,000 food packages to people living around the bank's 84
branches nationwide.

In Jakarta, the bank said it donated some 12,000 packages to
thousands of people.

The bank's executive director, Rudy Ramli, said that the
packages were worth a total of Rp 360 million (US$40,000).

On Saturday, privately run Pondok Indah Hospital in South
Jakarta sold staple foodstuffs at low prices to hundreds of
residents in Pondok Pinang subdistrict.

The packages consisted of five kilograms of rice, ten packs of
instant noodles, one liter of cooking oil and one kilogram of
sugar.

Hospital managers plan to hold similar events in the near
future in other places to help alleviate people's hardship.

In another charitable donation, the Hindu Sikh Foundation of
Indian immigrants gave food worth about Rp 255 million to 1,000
residents in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, last week. (cst)