“It was a dark period for me. Unable to sell flowers and garlands, I was struggling to pay our house rental of RM600. Many times, my daughter and I had to go to bed hungry,” she said while waiting for her turn to collect the free food from the community kitchen in Block 4, Desa Mentari, Selangor.Tangamani is among the 100 families who collect their free food on Saturdays and Sundays from the community kitchen, which was set up with support from RYTHM Foundation (RF) and QNET, in partnership with MyPJ, a local community group. Raw food materials are provided to MyPJ who formed a committee comprising residents who then take turns to cook, pack and distribute the food. The committee is also responsible to identify those in real need. Siti Maimunah Kamaruddin, 55 who has been living in the Desa Mentari flats for the last 15 years is the main cook who starts prepping for the day’s cooking from 11 am. The food must be ready for distribution by 5 pm.
