PETALING JAYA, June 1 – Online grocery platform HappyFresh has raised RM65,000 for those affected by Covid-19.

All it took was for its chief executive officer Guillem Segarra to run a half marathon of 21km on his treadmill at home.

unds raised will be equally distributed to three organisations which are Mums4Mums (Malaysia), Aksi Cepat Tanggap (Indonesia) and The Mirror Foundation (Thailand). — Picture courtesy of HappyFresh

Segarra’s attempt to complete the half marathon last month was live streamed on HappyFresh Malaysia’s YouTube channel while generous members of the public donated for a good cause, HappyFresh said in a press statement today.

The Jakarta-headquartered HappyFresh had an initial pledge of US$10,000 (RM43,000) for the cause which is ongoing and open to anyone to donate from now until June 3.

The e-commerce platform aims to raise US$100,000.

Donations can be made through the online grocery service’s Run in Unity page here.

Proceeds raised will be equally distributed to charity organisations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, where HappyFresh operates in.

The selected charities are Mums4Mums (Malaysia), Aksi Cepat Tanggap (Indonesia) and The Mirror Foundation (Thailand).

Mums4Mums is run by a community of mothers looking to help vulnerable and single mothers in the Klang Valley by providing financial assistance for their daily needs during the pandemic and movement control order (MCO).

"HappyFresh as a company would like to help at a time when everyone needs it.

"Acts of kindness no matter how small or big will make that much of a difference.

"As for myself, I am so used to constantly being on the go, why not put that energy into a good cause while also being able to set a positive example for my team and others,” said Segarra.

HappyFresh recorded a five to 10-time increase in traffic during the pandemic and MCO, and said it hopes to provide online grocery delivery to as many families in Southeast Asia as possible.