• “Food Aid” Project
From 2020 to 2022, PPB implemented numerous food aid initiatives to support vulnerable communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising living costs.
In 2020, PPB provided food provisions to more than 1,100 needy families and distributed 2,000 food packages to families across multiple districts in Sabah. PPB and its subsidiaries also contributed food products to food banks, frontliners, stranded students, B40 communities, underprivileged students and refugees, including the distribution of 1.5 million bread products. Additional contributions included snack items and beverages for urban poor communities, homeless individuals and healthcare frontliners, as well as donations to food banks and welfare homes.
In 2021, PPB expanded its efforts by providing essential food items and groceries to 21,017 recipients across 11 states, covering B40 households, refugees and migrant communities. The Group also supported food banks and an orang asli village with staple food items over three months and provided daily meals to B40 COVID-19 patients at public-funded quarantine centres in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, benefiting 1,030 patients.
In 2022, PPB continued its food assistance by supplying basic groceries over three months to 12 welfare homes and more than 5,100 recipients from the B40 group, orang asli communities, refugees and migrants. The year also included a staff-led “Cooking for a Cause” initiative, which provided 1,100 cooked meals and 400 bags of essential food items to needy communities.
• “Frontliners, We Care For You” Project
Under the “Frontliners, We Care For You” initiative, PPB expressed its appreciation to the frontliners by contributing essential personal protective equipment (PPE) to support their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The contributions included 60,000 N95 facemasks distributed to government hospitals, clinics, prisons and a fire department; 7,760 coveralls supplied to health offices, government hospitals and prisons; and 600 litres of hand sanitiser provided to government hospitals and a government clinic. In addition, PPB Properties donated two units of powered air-purifying respirators to Hospital Pulau Pinang.
• “Mask Up, Stay Safe” Project
PPB contributed 5,000 pcs of reusable facemasks to 60 welfare homes and NGOs.
• "Keep Clean. Let's Beat COVID-19 Together!" Project
PPB responded to an urgent request from BOMBA, Wilayah Persekutuan by supplying 80 units of 10-litre hand sanitisers to support sanitisation efforts amid a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases. In addition, PPB and its 55%-owned subsidiary jointly contributed various cleaning products, including laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, toilet bowl cleaner, surface disinfectant, bar soaps and hand sanitisers, to a prison and a food aid organisation. These supplies were subsequently distributed to approximately 127 welfare homes, three orang asli communities and a prison.
PPB Properties donated 5-litre hand sanitisers to Klinik Keluarga Kerajaan in Georgetown.
• “Lighting Up Homes” Project
PPB assisted 36 welfare homes and 240 needy families by paying their outstanding electricity bills throughout the years of 2020-2022.
• “Foodbank” Project
In 2021, PPB contributed essential food items namely rice, eggs and baby/children milk powder to 4 foodbanks/soup kitchens – Food Aid Foundation, Grace Food Bank, Kechara Food Bank and PERTIWI Soup Kitchen as well as an orang asli village in Pahang, for 3 consecutive months in 2020 & 2021. These items are especially hard to come by and foodbanks find it challenging to get sponsors for them. GSC Group also distributed more than 35,000 curry puffs to the same 4 foodbanks/soup kitchens.
• “Hot Cooked Meals for the Needy” Project
In the third quarter of 2021, PPB engaged struggling food operators and unemployed B40 volunteers residing in low-cost flats to prepare and distribute nutritious rice meals with chicken or fish and vegetables to needy communities in the Klang Valley, Seremban, Penang and Johor. An average of 2,000 meals were provided daily to recipients, including individuals undergoing self-quarantine, elderly persons living alone, and families with limited access to fresh food and cooking supplies during the MCO.
The initiative also supported livelihoods by generating three months of steady sales for 32 hawkers in Penang and a school canteen operator whose operations were disrupted by the MCO. In the Klang Valley, income opportunities were created for unemployed community volunteers through meal preparation at community kitchens in selected low-cost housing areas. In addition, PPB collaborated with social partners to provide hot meals to 13 welfare homes in Seremban for one month and to serve 350 needy recipients in Johor over a three-month period.
• Support for Hospitals Project
PPB contributed hospital equipment urgently requested by 17 government hospitals (8 in the Klang Valley and 9 in other states) to treat patients as they were unprepared for the escalating positive cases in the third quarter. The items contributed were 190 units 5L oxygen concentrators, 17,000 pieces N95 facemasks, 50 units syringe pumps, 11 units infusion pumps, 1 unit air-conditioned container, 2 units table top pulse oximeters, and other medical equipment. Not forgetting the sacrifices of our medical frontliners, PPB contributed 16 units Powered Air Purifying Respirators, 10 units water dispensers, 19 units air purifiers, 25 units 2-door steel cabinet lockers, 51 sets of scrub suits, 7 units double decker beds, as well as 2,320 cheer bags including cookies made by vulnerable mothers, and other items to improve the frontliners’ well-being.
• Medical Care for the Needy
In May 2022, PPB sponsored medical and dental supplies to a mobile clinic for refugees. Project Hope Welfare Association (Project Hope) set up the mobile clinic with volunteer doctors and a dentist who provided general health screening and dental care to about 50 refugee children in Seri Kembangan. Project Hope is an NGO that empowers the needy to provide for themselves through life skills training, besides providing food aid and tutorial programs to needy families in PPR Desa Mentari and PPR Lembah Subang. The organisation has been actively assisting refugees during the pandemic and continues to do so.
• Support for Local Muralists Project
PPB supported nine muralists mainly from the B40 group by getting them to paint murals at properties owned by the Group. The muralists completed three eye-catching murals in Cheras Leisuremall as well as murals depicting nostalgic memories of “New World Park” (NWP) in Penang, on the NWP walls.
• Hello, We Can! Campaign
The “Hello, We Can!” campaign organised by GSC, aimed to inspire kindness, create awareness of mental health and drive Malaysians to create and share positive, motivational content on their own personal social media, generated a total of 15,546 posts. PPB donated RM10 for each post totalling RM155,460/- to four NGOs to support their initiatives to raise awareness and provide support for mental health in Malaysia. The beneficiaries of this campaign were Women’s Aid Foundation, UM Cares, the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (MIASA), and Befrienders Malaysia.