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)