UAE-based FM company sends essentials & staple food stuff to families of 131 Sri Lankan employees as island nation suffers from its worst economic crisis
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 01 September, 2022: The staff welfare committee at leading UAE-based smart and green facilities management (FM) company Farnek, has initiated a humanitarian project by dispatching 4.6 metric tonnes of basic food stuff and other essentials to 131 families in Sri Lanka.
Farnek’s Sri Lankan employees were invited to a meeting, where staff welfare officers explained the project in detail, from initiation to dispatch. After the meeting, collection boxes were placed throughout Farnek’s offices and Farnek Village, its staff accommodation centre, for staff members to make donations.
Farnek doubled the amount collected, and through its procurement department, bought a range of everyday necessities which included rice, flour, salt, milk powder, biscuits, daal and chickpeas, as well as washing powder, tooth paste and soap.
Management and employees gave up their free time to pack the boxes before they were shipped to Sri Lanka. In total 131 boxes weighing a combined 4.6 tonnes were assembled. Farnek’s Sri Lankan employees added their home addresses and were also given the opportunity to place a personal message to their families inside the box. When they arrive in Colombo, couriers will deliver the boxes direct to the homes of these needy families.
The island nation is suffering from its worst political and economic crisis in living memory and families are struggling to survive. Sri Lanka relies on imports and with the country’s foreign currency reserves plummeting 99% to a mere $50 million since 2019, buying imported goods is extremely challenging, pushing up the price of domestic goods.
“This humanitarian drive was initiated by our staff welfare team, to the delight of our Sri Lankan employees. The situation over there is heartbreaking and we wanted to do something practical to help ordinary families that are struggling on a daily basis,” commented Markus Oberlin, CEO, Farnek.
“People have to wait in queues for hours if not days just to get everyday household basics. Petrol is being rationed, there is a food shortage, inflation is running at 60% and food prices have almost doubled, hitting the poorest in society the hardest,” he added.
Farnek has a track record of supporting the families of its employees, especially when they have been faced with real hardship. Farnek sent relief packages to Nepal after the destructive earthquake in 2015 and to South India in 2019, after the devastating floods.
For more information, log on to www.farnek.com