Malta’s cab companies play crucial role in assisting foodbanks during COVID-19 pandemic

Both Bolt and eCabs have been instrumental in supporting voluntary foodbank and similar charities to perform deliveries

Rafel Sammut prepares his delivery
Rafel Sammut prepares his delivery

At the moment Rafel Sammut floated his Victory Kitchen vision to Maltese taxi company eCabs was the instant his delivery headache was lifted.

The initiative kicked off with delivering food to a family of six and was meant to start feeding another five families every week. Things however, quickly picked up and by the first week, eCabs had already delivered 65 meals. To date, 360 meals have been delivered to around 75 families.

And as the COVID-19 pandemic persists with more and more families and individuals falling below the poverty threshold – some even finding it difficult to provide food for their families – another initiative, the the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation, has seen a surge in vulnerable families.

“The number of families depending on food packs provided by the Foodbank increased from 130 families/week pre COVID 19 to nearly 300 families/week at the moment and the numbers are expected to continue to increase in the coming weeks,” Foodbank Lifeline’s Jane Mizzi said.

Jane Mizzi, of Foodbank Lifeline
Jane Mizzi, of Foodbank Lifeline

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak the Foodbank Lifeline was operating from four distribution centres in Valletta, Birkirkara, Qawra and Paola. The families are referred to the Foodbank Lifeline by various entities, including The Malta Trust Foundation, Apogg, Leap, JRS, St Jean Antide, Millennium Chapel, the Oncology department and Djakonija Marsascala.

The common denominator in these two initiatives is not just the assistance to families in need, but also the role of two major taxi companies in Malta.

eCabs’s support to the Victory Kitchen project builds on its recently launched “eCabs Delivers” delivery service, created purposely for merchants to assist them in delivering their goods to customers at reasonable and market realistic rates.

“I must admit that this project would have been more difficult to take off without the support of eCabs who have committed themselves whole-heartedly to it and who have now mobilised a good number of drivers who are carrying out all the food deliveries for us in a very timely and organised manner,” Sammut said.

“The idea of helping others in need totally resonated with our values. We loved Rafel’s vision, especially the idea of creating something that is not just for the moment this crisis has led us to deal with, but a project for the long term. Chapeau to Rafel for coming up with the initiative. He is doing all the hard work, so helping him get the last part of the process sorted was an obvious and very quick decision for us,” Simon Debono, Chief marketing officer at eCabs, said.

Likewise, the Foodbank Lifeline’s distribution, now centralised in Qormi, are being prepared by volunteers at this centre and delivered to the vulnerable families by the taxi firm Bolt, who are providing their services free of charge, and the St. John’s Rescue Corp who are assisting in both the packing of food supplies and delivery.

Similarly, eCabs’ newly adopted standard operating procedures ensures deliveries are made with vehicles that are constantly sanitized using hospital-grade viral disinfectant.

To help the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation, Malta Together, through the Inspirasia Foundation, has pledged to match donations made, up to the tune of €5,000.  Donations can be made to the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation by: Sending an SMS to one of the numbers to 5061 8938 to donate €6.99, 5061 7912 to donate €4.66 or 5061 7386 to donate €2.33; or bank transfer to the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation account at Lombard Bank, IBAN MT28 LBMA 0500 0000 0000 0118 0115 687; or cheque, made payable to the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation, and mailed to 210 Old Bakery Street, Valletta.