IPOH: The Banana Leaf Lunch held at the Ozanam Community Centre in Silibin on July 10 was a deliciously hot and hearty meal for the crowd who turned up as early as 11.30 am. The event was organized by the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Parish Human Development Committee of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes to raise funds for various projects under OLOL’s SVDP society and PHDC, including the Soup Kitchen, Mother Teresa Reading Shelter, Ozanam Community Centre and Ozanam Home.

The soup kitchen, under the umbrella of the parish’s PHDC, is manned by volunteers and with food donated by others, caters to about 80 people per day every Wednesday and Thursday at lunch time. The meal consists of curry and rice with vegetables. SVDP chairman K Santhanasamy said the banana leaf lunch meal was the first fundraising event jointly organized with the parish’s PHDC.

The organizing committee hopes to raise about RM20,000. The Ozanam Community Centre at 18, Jalan Sengal Rayan in Lim Gardens (just behind OLOL Church) caters to eight children. Training activities and skills courses are offered. There are plans to add motivational courses during school holidays for more children. It also has an on-going free computer literacy class for senior citizens every Wednesday from 9.30 am till 12 noon.

Another Ozanam Home in Sungai Siput functions as a drop-in centre for children of single mothers. These mothers send their children there while they are at work.There are 36 children aged between 6-12 years. “The SVDP society here in Ipoh also provides food and medical aid, as well as other forms of financial assistance from time to time, to help the poor,” Santhanasamy said.