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Published: 13 February 2020, Thursday
Food from the Heart launched its pilot Community Shop (善粮小铺) to serve its 5,000 benefitting households islandwide, including 120 households from Mountbatten SMC and 400 households from Macpherson SMC and Marine Parade GRC, alongside its 17th birthday on 8 February 2020. The initiative is supported by a sponsorship from OCBC Bank and NCSS's Care & Share matching grant.
Food from the Heart's Community Shop concept is to let beneficiaries "shop for free"; beneficiaries are empowered to choose 12 food items from the racks each month. They can visit the Shop on multiple occasions throughout the month, which allows them to bear a lighter grocery load. This is also in line with Food from the Heart's aim to reduce food waste as it prevents beneficiaries from stockpiling food at home.
Beneficiaries will ‘shop’ using their beneficiary ID cards with QR codes containing their particulars, to be used the same way a debit card is used. The process enables FFTH to gather data on its beneficiaries to better understand their food selection and help in its future efforts in giving better.
"Being able to select what they want is an intangible and valuable gift. Beyond the food item, you give residents a choice. I think that's very powerful," Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for National Development, said in his speech at the opening of our Community Shop @ Mountbatten.
Mr Lim Biow Chuan, Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament for Mountbatten SMC, commented that he "found it to be different and breaks existing norms of giving and donating ... I am confident that the Shop will help the needy to not only have better meals but would enjoy the process of ‘shopping.’”
Food items available at Food from the Heart's Community Food Shop include staples, canned food, bread spreads, biscuits, oil and condiments, all of which will allow beneficiaries to eat better.
Community Shop @ Mountbatten is located at 13 Old Airport Road #01-57.
It is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9.30am to 12.30pm and by appointment for beneficiaries coming in groups.
Members of the public are welcome to drop off donations at the Shop's donation drop off box 24/7.
The Community Shop is one of Food from the Heart's initiatives towards giving better and closing the gap between the needy and Singapore’s rising standards of living. With the option of choosing food items that they require instead of receiving standard food packages, the Community Shop is Food from the Heart's way of returning the dignity of choice to the needy.
Besides offering a variety of food options, this initiative helps Food from the Heart reduce food waste. Having a shop in the neighbourhood also encourages families to get out of their homes to have more interaction with others, and for the community to look out for one another.
Food from the Heart uses IT solutions to collect data that will help us serve beneficiaries better in the future. Our shopkeeping volunteers help to the items redeemed by its beneficiaries at the store while OCBC has pledged to help with analytics to identify food collection patterns.
