Kechara Soup Kitchen is a Community Action Group, which consists of volunteers from all walks of life distributing food to the homeless and urban poor in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Every Sunday, come rain or shine, a group of volunteers gather in the centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to distribute halal food and offer first aid to the homeless. When sponsorship allows, we also distribute umbrellas during the wet seasons.

From distributing 20 packs of food when we first started, we are now able to distribute around 130 packs of food each Saturday. This is due to the generous sponsorship from kind donors, who often join us to distribute to the needy. Our giving to all, regardless of race, gender, religion or culture is the basis of our motto: Hunger Knows No Barriers.



Our medium term goal is to have a permanent SOUP KITCHEN in a building in the centre of town, as near as possible to the urban poor, so we can provide food, shelter and counseling to empower the homeless to regain dignity and become employable and independent. To achieve this, we also have a long term goal to create a NURTURE CENTRE.

To achieve this, we need help - any contributions are welcome, whether in financial donations or volunteering your time, skills or resources. Talk to us today!

Please join us on our journey...

Each Sunday:
Food packing starts at 4.30pm at Kechara House 2, SunwayMas Commercial Centre.

To volunteer, offer sponsorship or for any other information, please call the respective heads of divisions as below:

Chuah Su Ming (Director)
012 291 1178

Ruby Khong (Fund Raising)
010 3333 260

Sharon Saw (Communications, Marketing)
012 489 4891

May Woo (Legal)
019 212 6288

Email: care@kechara.com

Please visit the website for more information at http://www.kechara.com/?cat=634
Join the KSK Group for updates at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15395034287

This post has been edited by PatEagle: Sep 6 2013, 12:05 AM

great!
i'll try to contact the person incharge..maybe we can team up with our volunteers..

Kenchara Soup Kitchen
KSK Fund-raising and Awareness
______________________________

Date: June 28th & 29th, 2008 (Saturday & Sunday)
Venue: Community Corner, Ground flr, 1-Utama (Old Wing)
Time: 10am-10pm
______________________________

Support KSK and meet football legend, Ex-England captain and ex-Manchester United player, Bryan Robson. He will be making an appearance at KSK's 1-Utama booth on the June 28th (Saturday) 3-4pm.
Do visit and tell all your friends!

Updates, join KSK Group on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15395034287

This post has been edited by PatEagle: Jul 24 2008, 08:38 PM

Take a look at this...

Proceedings, Factsheets and Slides
July 14, 2008: National Summit on Urban Poor and Low-Income Groups
http://www.cpps.org.my/sub_page.aspx?catID=398&ddlID=401

xD I went for a few rounds with them, and you can really learn a lot and be humbled.

They actually treat the homeless as their friends and talk to them and stuff.

how can i join ?

Funny how they never seem to be employed. Some of them are employable, why aren't they employed?

This post has been edited by wodenus: Aug 26 2008, 09:20 PM

Email: help@kskcommunity.org

Please visit their website for more information at http://www.kskcommunity.org/

Join the KSK Group for updates at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15395034287

Hiya. I'm thinking of joining such a voluntary group...and did some reading concerning this KSK. It seems that KSK is related to Kenchara House, a Tibetan Buddhist society.

You see, I'm sort of a free-thinker. I do not like to pray or chant mantras and stuff like that. Do you think I'll be able fit into this voluntary group, in which a lot of its members are followers of this Buddhism teaching (I made this assumption based on the blogs I read made by these members)?

Besides, I'm not really good with people and am an introvert. But I've got too much free time...and by joining such a group I hope I can learn something and change myself. Will I be accepted as a volunteer with my not-so-noble thought?

Also, anyone mind sharing how it's like in this KSK volunteering work? A description of a typical day would suffice. I've read the blogs but would still like to have a clearer picture. Many thanks

Buddhists are non-judgemental and don't have hidden agendas when it comes to charity work. Relax, you'll be welcome.

i know i won't be forced into anything i don't want, but i keep imagining myself standing at the corner while the rest are chanting mantras...

When it comes to Volunteer and Community Service, it is the thoughts and intentions that matter. Practices and rituals are only done for the sake of it needed to be done.

EDIT: Some people may disagree with the rituals part, but that is solely my perspective. Please do not misinterpret me.

A Kind Heart knows no religious boundaries.

You'll fit in fine.

~Cheers!

P.S. I dare to say this as I was a "Free Thinker" - Buddhist person volunteering in Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital, which is supposedly set up by Christian Missionaries, and is still run by Christian Sisters. The whole stint was fun, and I believe helping others always is fun.

This post has been edited by natakaasd: Oct 30 2008, 10:40 PM

the website said the name of the organization is Kechara Soup Kitchen.
The title of this thread is Kenchara Soup Kitchen

i am in doubt of the objectives of these programme..
serving them with free food would nt solve the problem..
if the foods are distibuted to a housing area with hard core poor, then i agreed this programme is good..
but if the food is given to the 'kutu rayau' (is dat correct) or those beggars, then it will not help them in a long run.. you might instead help them register under the government social welfare department..
i dun understand the term homeless... especially you said in KL near the petaling street area..
if they are nobody with no family and sleep at public area.. they shall referred and not given food to them.. How long can you supply them? How do you think this will help them?

correct me if i am wrong~

This post has been edited by wskyline: Nov 2 2008, 07:19 PM

i agree with you.

but anyway. i will register as volunteer. while you guys still still discussing about this solution, act is needed.

i would love to be volunteers for free. i live at kota damansara and would love to participate for this charity events. hope im not to late.

i did join them b4, its good, but i stay at penang now

This post has been edited by Anyla: Dec 15 2008, 10:46 AM

For those who questions why there is a need for such soup kitchen please watch the movie "In pursuit of Happyness" Look at the second half of the movie on how Will Smith survived. In the end of the show, please check out Youtube and look for the actual guy protrayed by named Chris Gardner and see his TV interviews.

Hello, I went for Kechara's midnight round for my first time last Saturday.

I visit orphanages, animal shelters and homes for the mentality disabled on a regular basis. But this, is something entirely different altogether. Words can only explain my experience as "Wow" for the moment.

Roaming the cold,empty city streets at night looking at the dark corners where the homeless would hide themselves shamefully from the public, approaching sleeping "corpses" to give them something warm to eat and stuff to last them the week. Talking to them. Acknowledging them. Learning to respect them.

I learned so much during my trip with them. My sensitivity to things doubled after this experience. If you're reading this, please give it a try if you live around kl/selangor. It is something else. You will come home with a different perspective of life, i assure you.

good job KSK!

Don't worry Anyla! KSK Penang is starting in Jan 2010!
keep up with the latest in kechara.com/ksk

---

Added on June 22, 2009, 2:05 pm[quote=PatEagle,Sep 2 2008, 05:50 AM]Email: ksk@kechara.com

Please visit their website for more information at www.kechara.com/ksk

Join the KSK Group for updates at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=4...02425610&ref=ts


the website url is www.kechara.com/ksk now

This post has been edited by justinryo: Apr 16 2010, 01:11 PM

hie PatEagle,

I would like to contribute something in form of donations, which i will contact the respective person in charge.

Though i would really like to go over and contribute in energy n time, but my project on hand doesn't permits me.

So, good luck in your project, and may god bless u all for the good cause

hey, is the event still on?
would like to join but I'm not too sure I can make it on weekly basic.
well, do let me know if you guys need more hands. =)

it seems like all charity threads just died off like that, without any proper updates and so on.

anyway, i had done my part by donating certain monetary and items donations on monday

hopefully more and more charity programs will come up, but of course with more proper info.

deleted

This post has been edited by Ravenz: Apr 15 2010, 04:07 PM

Hi Ravenz,

I would like to join too, but unfortunately, my commitments now are making my hands tight.... so i will donate and see how im gonna incorporate some time n effort in KSK later on

deleted

This post has been edited by Ravenz: Apr 15 2010, 04:05 PM

hey ravens i would really like to join but i have no idea where to start... can you gimme a hand here?

Just email: ksk@kechara.com
and arrange to go for orientation on a Thursday night.

The place is at Sunway Mas Commercial Center, near Aman Suria and the Kelana Jaya LRT station.

Here's the full address:
Lot 21-2, Jalan PJU 1/3G,
Sunwaymas Commercial Centre,
47301 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 7880 0782
Fax : +603 7880 0832
Email: ksk@kechara.com

And here's the website: http://www.kechara.com/ksk/

wow this is nice..I will email you guys soon!

Hey, It's so great to see a KSK thread here

yeah, but the name of this blog should be kechara soup kitchen

got the contact for penang?

Yes, KSK started in Georgetown
contact Patsy Gooi - 012-4022 992

Dear friends, Kechara Soup Kitchen now has a permanent building in the heart of KL City.

Address and contact information as below.

Kechara Soup Kitchen
17 Jalan Barat
(Off Jalan Imbi)
55100 Kuala Lumpur,
MALAYSIA.

Tel : +603 2141 6046
Fax : +603 2141 6049
Email: ksk@kechara.com

Project Directors
Justin Cheah
Mob: +6012 203 2135
Email: justin.cheah@kechara.com

Chua Siong Woan
Mob: +6010 3333 260
Email: siongwoan.chua@kechara.com

KSK building is open from Monday - Friday from 11am to 1pm for the homeless to have their lunch, wash their clothings as well as to get medical attention or counselling there.

On Saturday starting from 9.30PM, volunteers will swamp the building in preparation for the 'Midnight Rounds' where volunteers will separate into various groups to hand out food to the homeless or what we call as our clients.

New volunteers will have to go through a short briefing by the Project Directors either Justin Cheah or Siong Woan at 8PM on the same day. Their contact information are at the top of this post.

I myself am a volunteer for KSK and until today, I would still say it is really an eye-opener as well as a very good experience. Do join us!

MORE INFORMATION CAN BE GATHERED AT KSK's WEBSITE, http://www.kechara.com/soup-kitchen

This post has been edited by philyong: Jan 11 2011, 10:41 PM

Folks,

I have visited them few weeks ago and these are some of the items that Kechara Soup Kitchen needs urgently:

1. Biscuits (pre-packed preferred)
2. Tiger Balm
3. Mosquito Coils
4. Clothes (male preferred because most of the homeless friends are males)

BTW, they have this cool black colour t-shirts, selling at RM 38/each/man & baby tee sizes - I have attached mine for you to have a look at the design.

contact Justin (I think you can find his details in one of the earlier postings for more up-to-date information.






Attached thumbnail(s)

Me and my friend are interested to join as a volunteer for the "Midnight Rounds" but the problem is we don't have any own transport.. So i'm just wondering what time do it end usually? coz we have to depend to the public transport to get back home which close at 11pm..

Thanks alot.

This is the story behind the formation of the soup kitchen:

http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpo...hen-or-ksk.html

nice read! all this while i thought kechara soup kitchen was established by Dato Ruby Kong herself..

hey there... is this soup kitchen still running? i would like to volunteer if it still is... pls do let me know

May I know what the times available to volunteer? Because i am working so the time that i am free only on weekends...

i go for their saturday night rounds. which are from 930pm til about 1am. most suitable timing for weekdays workers i find.

Kechara Soup Kitchen is still running and will be running for the years to come. KSK has expanded to Penang and even Indonesia.

Take a look at KSK's website for more info: http://www.kechara.com/soup-kitchen/

With your help, donations and dedication, KSK will grow into a international group which will bring benefit to thousands if not millions of beings.

KSK BB already has too many volunteers lol, I was there once, so many people some had to be turned away

i hope they're not using polystyrene rice box anymore..

May i know how to join on it? Sometimes i can use my free time on weekend to get involved in certain activities. Thanks.

The last time I went, they were using paper boxes to pack their rice. The problem with this paper boxes is that they tend to turn soft and weak due to the sauce of the vegetable. Maybe someone here could suggest them to use plastic plates instead? This would be far more cost effective and environmental friendly.

plastic plates environmental friendly?

It's reusable. And I'm sure they will treasure it as their "lunchbox". Plastic containers with caps would be good too. But cleanliness of reusing these material is rather hard to maintain.

Exactly.. and it's hard to carry around if you live on the street. I think they use plastic-lined paper (nasi lemak wrap) now though.


This post has been edited by wodenus: Jun 8 2012, 02:48 PM

Do you have any idea how recycable these papers are? And probably it's to save cost anyway. No easy task running a "free restaurant"

I'm sure they are more recyclable than polystyrene

BUMP

BUMP

Any updates? I'm interested to join as volunteer.

Hello, I am interested as well. Any updates?

Gone already I believe.

http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/07/...move-kl-policy/

Kechara Soup Kitchen is well and operating still thank you.

This is their Facebook of the daily operations.
https://www.facebook.com/KSKPage

This post has been edited by wmw111: Jul 30 2014, 10:23 AM

Is there any type of charity like this at jb?thanks

There's Kechara Soup Kitchen JB branch. You may try to contact here. http://www.kechara.com/soup-kitchen/contact/

This can be a good experience, doing it with a organization. Used to distribute food too to the homeless when I was abroad, but it was solo.
It was nice to lend them a hand and at the same time lending ears as they just want to be heard. It can be an eye opening experience, contrary to the common belief they are not lazy, they are just unfortunate.
Will def spread around about this

let me post smthg about this group
i got this response from the admin

Volunteering – What we do
We distribute food to our homeless and urban poor clients on Weekdays (Mondays to Fridays) from 11.00am to 1.00pm from our Soup Kitchen at No.17 Jalan Barat, off Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. If you are interested to volunteer during the above mentioned timing, please contact us at 03-2141 6046 for registration.
Please also let us know if you are bringing any family/friends along as volunteers. For larger number of volunteers (above 15 up to a maximum of 40 people), we highly encourage you and your group to join us in the Saturday night rounds.
Our Saturday night rounds are from 11.00pm to past midnight (around 1.00 to 2.00 am depending on the routes), where we will distribute food to the clients at the various pre-determined locations within the city.

On Saturday nights, our volunteers will gather at the Soup Kitchen building to be briefed on the route allocations and collect the food items kindly donated by generous sponsors before hitting the streets of Kuala Lumpur to distribute to our waiting clients.

Kindly be informed that we do not prepare food in our kitchen. All of our sponsors either cook or purchase cooked food from vegetarian restaurants, which are appropriately packed (in non-Styrofoam boxes) and sent to our soup kitchen.

Our Food Distribution Schedule:
(1) Week Days (Monday - Friday)
Where : Kechara Soup Kitchen (KL)
When : 11am - 1pm
How : Vegetarian Lunches are served from the kitchen (17, Jalan Barat, Off Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur)
Contact : +603 21416046 (during office hours)

(2) Weekends (Saturday)
Where : Kechara Soup Kitchen (KL)
When : 8.30pm - past midnight
How : Vegetarian food packs to be prepared in the kitchen (same address) and to be distributed in and around Klang Valley.
Contact: SMS +012 3669 048 to register.
Registration closes on Friday 6.00pm each week.

(3) Weekends (Sunday)
Where : Petaling Jaya
When : 5pm - 7pm
How : Vegetarian food packs to be distributed at specific areas within Petaling Jaya
Contact : +603 2141 6046 for enquiry

(4) Week Days (Tuesday -Thursday)
Where : Kechara Soup Kitchen (Penang)
When : 5.30pm - 7.30pm
How : Vegetarian Meals are served from the kitchen (6, Halaman Ariffin (off Jalan Burmah), 10400 Penang)
Contact : +6012 4022 992 (during office hours)

(5) Week Days (Monday)
Where : Kechara Soup Kitchen (Penang)
When : 10.30pm - 12.00 midnight
How : Vegetarian Meals are prepared in the kitchen (same address as above) and distributed in and around the City Center
Contact : +6012 4022 992 (during office hours)

(6) Weekends (Saturday)
Where : Kechara Soup Kitchen (JB)
When : 10.30pm - 1.00am
How : Vegetarian food packs are distributed in and around Johor Bahru city center.
Contact: SMS +6010 3333 260 to register.
Registration closes on Friday 12noon each week

Age Restrictions
For Saturday rounds, the minimum age requirement for volunteers is 18 years old and above due to safety concerns. However, there is no age limit to volunteer in the kitchen during the weekdays.

Registration/Briefing
If you and your family/friends are interested to volunteer for the Saturday rounds, kindly contact with Mr Wong at 012-3669048 stating your Full Name, Gender and the names of Family/Friends that you are bringing along plus their contact numbers as well and the date you are registering for. This will help facilitate Mr Wong's planning and route allocation process. Please contact Mr Wong latest by 6.00 pm on Friday of the week that you intend to volunteer. Do take note that registration is on a first-come-first serve basis.
First time volunteers are required to attend a compulsory orientation briefing before you can join the rounds. Please be punctual for the briefing which will be held in our Soup Kitchen building at Jalan Barat from 8.00pm onwards and should take no more than 90 minutes. The briefing will give you a clear explanation on the rules and regulations during volunteering and as well as the safety precautions.

Dress Code
For Saturday rounds, we strongly encourage our volunteers to wear our KSK T-shirts for safety reasons and uniformity, as it is easier for our clients on the streets to recognise us. Our KSK t shirts are available for purchase at the cost price of RM35 per piece at our Soup Kitchen office immediately after the orientation briefing.

The recommended dress code for Saturday rounds are KSK T-Shirts,Jeans/Pants/Bermuda shorts and covered/sport shoes. Kindly refrain from wearing any jewellery and inappropriate clothing (example: skimpy shorts, tight and low cut/revealing tops, high heels).