Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) and PichaEats, a Malaysian social enterprise committed to empowering the refugee community in Malaysia through its food business, recently teamed up to deliver a total of 280 meals to the less fortunate, in efforts to drive kindness this festive season.
The “Driving Kindness” convoy consisted of employees from Volkswagen and Picha, driving a Tiguan Allspace Highline and a Passat Elegance; and four classic Volkswagen cars – two Beetle cars and two Kombi vans driven by their owners who had volunteered for the project.
Recipients of the Driving Kindness campaign were Hiichiikok Foundation, Trinity Community Children’s Home, Lighthouse Children’s Welfare Home, Sunteck Handicap Welfare Home and Charis Sheep Pen Shelter, all located in Klang Valley. And as a show of support to frontliners, a total of 100 meals were delivered to the doctors and nurses at the Covid-19 testing station at Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
In the spirit of giving, five families and individuals were also presented with a PichaEats Christmas Family set. The respective parties were selected through a Facebook contest held from the 25th to 30th November, which called out to netizens to nominate those going through tough times and deserved a special meal as a show of love and appreciation.
Erik Winter, Managing Director of VPCM participated in the convoy and expressed his gratitude on the success of the project. “Christmas is the season of giving, and it is a privilege to be able to give back to the community and to the less fortunate. The year has been extremely challenging for everyone, and it is so important to stay connected, be kind and to give back whenever possible.”
“The Volkswagen group has been committed to aiding refugees via numerous social platforms since 2015, and here we are honoured to partner with the charismatic team at PichaEats, who are doing an amazing job creating opportunities for refugees in Malaysia.”
Kim Lim, CEO and co-founder of PichaEats added that the project was a clear reflection of Picha’s mission to drive kindness. “At PichaEats, we are all about making an impact.
For this Christmas and year end season, we especially wanted to emphasise the idea of bringing joy and spreading kindness to the community at large. It was a pleasure working with Volkswagen Malaysia to realise this, who were all-in for putting a smile on the faces of those who needed some good cheer.”
PichaEats, which is , has served over 250,000 meals cooked by people from refugee communities in Malaysia.
As Malaysia is currently not part of the United Nations Refugees Convention, refugees in the country are not recognized as asylum seekers and cannot be formally employed.
Through PichaEats, the refugee chefs prepare the food in their own homes in accordance to strict quality standards. With every meal ordered, 50 percent of sales goes to the chefs, while the other 50 percent goes to PichaEats to cover operation costs, logistics and packaging as we as reinvested into creating greater impact.
