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With an increase in layoffs and pay cuts in Singapore due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many are finding it more difficult to put food on the table.
However, some residents along Yishun 51 Street have noted the recent appearance of an unguarded shelf full of dry groceries at the foot of Block 513C. Two laminated sheets of paper pasted on top said: “Suspended groceries. Take what you need, give what you can.”
The locker was placed there by a group of three friends as part of the Jumaat Initiative, which hopes to provide an emergency food source to those in need as a way of giving back to the community.
Taking inspiration from Elewsmart, a market in Malaysia that offers low-priced groceries, which also has a free food bank, the trio sourced a shelf from Carousell’s free market and filled it with foods like rice, sugar, canned goods, cookies, oil. cooking. and more.
Speaking with AsiaOne, one of the organizers, Hazwan Tahir, shared: “We realized that those most affected [by the pandemic] they are from lower-income families. ”
In addition to families whose sole breadwinners face layoffs and pay cuts, he noted that the elderly living alone and foreign workers are similarly affected.
They also chose Yishun because he was close to where they lived.
As of now, the trio have yet to decide whether they would expand the initiative to other locations, having given themselves a one-month goal to see if it would take off.
Since the shelf’s appearance on September 26, several people have reached out to organizers offering to sponsor some of the food. The group also shared on Facebook how some kind strangers had also filled the shelf with more food of their own.
Those who want to contribute to the cause can contact them through the Facebook group TheJumaatInitiatives, Hazwan added.
The trio are not alone in their quest to provide food for those in need. Another group, Unmanned Free Food Pantry, is organized by Ken Yeo and his family with a focus on helping those living in low-income neighborhoods like Jalan Kukoh, York Hill, and Spooner Road.
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