Although workplaces had shut down islandwide on 7 April, it was business as usual for Mr Nizar Mohamed Shariff and his employees, who continued their daily home deliveries so that needy families will not go hungry.
Mr Nizar, 49, was advised by a friend to halt operations for a month at charity Free Food For All when news of the “circuit breaker” measures were announced. He told The Straits Times: “I said, ‘No, we must continue what we do’. If anything, we should double up our efforts because there are more people who need our help right now.”
The organisation has been distributing meals and groceries to the elderly and low- income residents living in rental flats for six years.
Free Food For All is one of the food charities here which will plough ahead to bring food to needy households amid the measures that will affect all non-essential services.
Community care services, such as meals-on-wheels programmes, are included in the list of essential services that will remain open during the one-month circuit breaker.
Free Food For All’s food packs that are usually distributed to residents at void decks will now be delivered by hand to each household, increasing home deliveries from 10 to about 30 a day.
The Meals-on-Wheels (MOW) programme run by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) will also continue its operations as usual, the agency said, delivering about 5,300 meals daily islandwide.
With fewer volunteers, MOW service providers are deploying their staff to deliver meals, said AIC.
Non-profit organisation Food From The Heart distributes some 7,500 food packs every month to needy households via its partners, such as schools, senior activity centres and family service centres.
With the closure of schools and senior activity centres, the organisation is looking into alternative ways to distribute the food packs, such as using a commercial delivery platform.
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Source: The Straits Times, 7 April 2020