since 1976
since 1976
Volvo Trucks, one of the world’s largest heavy-duty truck brands, 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) , 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. The decision to donate a truck to KSK was a logical one, given that all their charity work is fully in line with Volvo Trucks’ core values of quality, safety and environmental care.
KSK was founded in 2006 as a non-profit organisation that offers street distribution of free food, drinks and basic first aid to the homeless and those in need, regardless of race or religion. Over the years, KSK had also established mobile clinic that gives free health checks and counselling services to the homeless and poor, and a food bank programme through partnerships with brands such as Tesco, AEON, Munchy’s and The Westin Hotel. The organisation operates based on its motto ‘Hunger Knows No Barriers’ and its belief that compassion for the less fortunate should be as wide reaching as possible. Since it started, KSK has delivered over 1.5 million meals to-date.
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.
According to Peden, the required fund for truck body fabrication is RM150,000, in which Volvo Trucks is hoping to raise funds and is inviting industry players to be part of this initiative by sponsoring a Platinum package of RM15,000 or a Gold package of RM5,000.
As of now, in addition to Seri Zenith Engineering, other industry players who have confirmed their participation in this fund-raising initiative as Platinum sponsors are Taipanco Sdn Bhd and Asian Trucker Media Sdn Bhd, and as Gold sponsors are the Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH) and Aimtrans Logistics (M) Sdn Bhd. Companies who contribute as Platinum sponsors will have their logos printed on the truck body.
Any excess of funds beyond the truck body fabrication cost will be donated to KSK. Parties who are keen to contribute may get in touch with Volvo Trucks’ headquarters in Shah Alam or donate directly to KSK’s Maybank account number 5122-3133-4874 by referencing it to ”Volvo Food Truck”. All donations for this initiative are eligible for tax deduction.
Apart from donating the truck chasis 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.
