To help pay for utilities, groceries and her grandchildren’s pocket money, Madam Rusnah Sajee joined a local charity programme that enables her to bake snacks for sale.
Madam Rusnah, 59, is part of Bakers Beyond, an initiative by Beyond Social Services that gathers women from rental flat neighbourhoods and helps them to source for baking projects and kitchen space with equipment.
There are currently eight women involved, aged between 40 and 59, who also learn business skills and baking techniques from volunteers. Some women who have left the programme are now doing food-related businesses elsewhere.
Bakers Beyond, now in its sixth year, officially opened its own baking facility on 25 Nov 2018. Previously, the women used kitchens at different locations, like baking facilities run by other charities.
Madam Rusnah is thankful for the new premises as she no longer has to move from one kitchen to another. The new equipment also makes it easier to work on larger-scale projects.
“It was very tiring taking things around previously, and having to pack everything up quickly before leaving,” she said.
Each woman contributes $60 a day to use the space whenever they have orders, and they get to keep all the profits from the sale of the baked goods. Madam Rusnah said she earns an average of $500 from each project, which goes towards supporting her family.
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Source: The Straits Times, 29 November 2019