These tough times have certainly taken a toll on the people of Sri Lanka. With food supplies running out and prices of essentials soaring high, our communities are increasingly finding it difficult to have just one meal a day. Many parents prioritise their children and make sure that they don’t go to bed hungry, while mothers & fathers make the ultimate sacrifices. The scarcity as well as the high prices of some essentials has left families with only a little access to daily meals to survive.
Keells launched the community relief initiative “Together for a better tomorrow” with the goal of helping families all over Sri Lanka during this crisis, by bringing much-needed essentials to their homes. This initiative is carried out to support people from all communities and backgrounds. By purchasing Donation Cards from Keells, you can provide much needed essential food products to families in need. For these families, this will mean food on their tables when they need it the most. For every 9 packs purchased, Keells will contribute 1 pack up to a minimum of 5000 packs. This collective effort has resulted in waves of many positive outcomes, lending a helping hand to financially vulnerable families during these tough times. They were able to make this dream a success, thanks to all the generous donors who partnered with them, believing in their cause, and improving the quality of life in our nation, as a whole. A deserving beneficiary voiced their feelings about being a part of this and here’s what they said,
“ඔයාලට බොහොම පිං මේ කරන සත්කාරට, මම කුලීවැඩ කරලා තමයි ජීවත්වුණේ. ඒත් දැන් රට පත්වෙලා තියෙන තත්වේ අනුව අපි වගේ මිනිස්සුන්ට කුලියක් මුලියක් කරලා ජීවත්වෙන්න විදිහක් නෑ. මට දුවලා දෙන්නෙක් ඉන්නවා, ඒ දෙන්නට කන්න දෙන්නෙත් අමාරුවෙන්, ඒ හින්දා ඔයාලා කරන මේ දේට බොහොම පිං. බුදු සරණයි”.
“உங்களின் விருந்தோம்பலுக்கு நன்றிகள் பல. நான் கூலி வேலை செய்து வாழ்ந்து வருகிறேன். ஆனால் தற்போது நாட்டில் நிலவும் சூழ்நிலையில் எங்களை போன்றவர்கள் கூலி வேலை செய்து கூட வாழ முடியாத நிலை உள்ளது. எனக்கு இரண்டு பெண் பிள்ளைகள் உள்ளனர், அவர்களுக்கு மிகுந்த சிரமத்துடன் உணவளிக்கின்றேன். அதனால் இக் காரியத்தை செய்த உங்களுக்கு மிக்க நன்றி. புத்தரின் ஆசிகள்”.
Customers will contribute towards a pack of necessities and dry food to those in need when they buy a Donation Card worth Rs. 1,500 from Keells. Each pack contains rice, dhal, sugar, soya, tea and salt. These donation cards are available at every Keells outlet islandwide and they can be even purchased from their official website.
The beneficiaries are selected with the support of the respective Grama Niladhari, Samurdhi Department, Midwives Association, or Place of worship in the locality.
- Single parents or single-income families.
- Families with person/s with a disability.
- Families with pregnant mothers.
- An elders/children’s home or other homes.
Help a family in need.
Distributions have taken place during the past few weeks in various parts of the country. Keells intends to speed up the pace of donations and get more packs distributed, at a faster rate to a larger number of people. As of the 10th of July 2022, 6,773 essential packs have been distributed to beneficiaries. A few of the areas where packs of essentials have been distributed so far are Panadura, Gampola, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Colombo, Negombo, Monaragala, Jaffna, Kadawatha, and Kaluthara.
Thanks to the tremendous support of our community service partners even with the significant challenges faced, we have been able to reach many families affected by the ongoing crisis in our nation. Keells would like to acknowledge and thank the charity partners of this programme, Sri Lanka Unites, Voice for Voiceless, and Meda Mawatha for the passion, dedication and sheer effort invested to ensure these supplies continue to reach the families in need. Their sincere gratitude goes out to Ceylon Biscuits Limited (CBL) Munchee for their generous contribution of a product for donation packs. They also extend their gratitude to Nations Trust Bank for joining this campaign and contributing 1 for every 9 packs purchased using Nations Trust Bank American Express Cards. BDO Sri Lanka has partnered as the assurance partner for this initiative. Keells welcomes the support of the Colombo Tuskers Round Table (CTRT8) who joined them as an advocacy partner to raise awareness about the initiative via their local and global networks, with a commitment towards raising funds for a minimum of 1000 packs. (Rs. 1.5 million)
Another beneficiary spoke on behalf of their whole village and expressed that it helped not only his/her family but the entire community.
“වෙලාවේ හැටියට මගේ පවුලට විතරක් නෙවෙයි අපේ ගමේ මේ උපකාරය ලැබිච්ච අනිත් අයටත්, මේක ලොකු හයියක් වුණා. මේක අපිට ලැබිච්ච ලොකු පිනක් විදිහට සලකනවා.”
“இந்த சவாலான காலத்தில், இது எனது குடும்பத்தினருக்கு மட்டுமல்லாது. எங்கள் கிராமத்தில் இந்த உதவியைப் பெற்ற மற்றவர்களுக்கும் பெரும் உதவியாக இருந்தது. இதில் பங்கு வகித்தது எங்களுக்கு ஒரு பெரிய பாக்கியம்.-
You can make a donation via https://keellssuper.com/donation. We can, each one of us make a difference. #Togetherwecan #Makingadifference