KUANTAN: Yayasan Petronas, the corporate social responsibility arm of the national oil and gas company, has reached out to 4,900 needy families across the country this year to spread the festive joy under its Uplifting Lives Hari Raya Aidilfitri programme.
In the east coast, 1,350 low-income families received the aid comprising daily essentials and Hari Raya cookies, with some 400 recipients from Pahang.
Petronas East Coast general manager Mohamad Ahmad Shazly Ramli said the programme, conducted with support from the Pahang Social Welfare Department, had identified the 400 B40 families at four districts.
"The families living in Kuantan, Rompin, Bera and Bentong who have been receiving aid from the Welfare Department were selected for the programme this year. Each family was provided with basic food supplies to make preparations for the festive season.
"A total of 4,900 underprivileged families from across the country were chosen to receive food aid from Yayasan Petronas this year," he said here.
Shazly described Petronas' Uplifting Lives programme as one of their continued commitment to provide food supplies for the needy to allow them to celebrate the festive season like others.
He said the Hari Raya cookies distributed to the needy families were baked by Yayasan Petronas' "Memampankan Ekonomi Asas Rakyat" (Mekar) programme participants, who are mostly small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs.
Each chosen family received festive food supplies such as glutinous rice, coconut milk, rendang paste and peanut sauce, along with rice, flour, cooking oil and sugar.
Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail lauded the initiative and proposed the programme to be expanded to more districts across the state next year.