SINGAPORE – Local food charity Food from the Heart (FFTH) is holding its second Heart On Wheels donation drive this weekend, where people can drive by to drop off food items for those in need as a donation option.

The donation drive, held on March 2 and 3, from 9am to 6pm, will take place at Wearnes Automotive, 45 Leng Kee Road.

It aims to collect 25,000 food items.

In 2023, the charity event collected 22,246 food items and raised more than $52,000 in funds.

Part of the food collected from this year’s drive will go to FFTH’s community shop in Lengkok Bahru with the aim of filling it up with about 5,000 food items, while the rest will go back to FFTH’s warehouse to be packed into Community Food Packs that are distributed to lower-income families and individuals.

The Straits Times visited the drive-through food donation drive on March 2, when business development manager Michael Heah, 34, and his wife, research officer Maureen Chia, 32, took their two-year-old son Maxillus Heah to donate items such as rice, oats, peanut butter and canned food.

Mr Heah told ST: “We thought that this is a good initiative to take our child to as it raises awareness that there are people who need help.

“It is a very simple gesture that we can do to share and donating these items can feed a whole family, so why not share with people who need it.”

“I want my child to experience this and, in future, have the mindset to be kind to people and expect nothing in return.”

Mr Uday Joshi was also at the food donation drive with his three-year-old son Devan Joshi, and donated items such as noodles, coffee, tea, as well as a $100 cash donation.

He placed the bag of donations on the ground next to his son, who carried some of the items and placed them in the donation box.

The 54-year-old, who works in finance, told ST: “I wanted to donate to expose my son to the less fortunate and people who are in need of food.

“I want to educate him that not everyone is as fortunate as us, and some people rely on the goodwill of others.”

Mr Robin C. Lee, chief executive of FFTH, told ST at the drive that he felt very touched seeing people of all ages coming to donate as it shows that people still care.

“There are so many people out there who need help and this (food donation drive) inculcates the spirit of giving, sharing and togetherness in the kids,” he said.

Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Eric Chua also visited the food donation drive on March 2 with Queenstown grassroots volunteers to donate items such as rice, cooking oil and canned food.

Mr Chua, who is also Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth and Social and Family Development, told ST that he is very passionate about food security in Singapore, adding that in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, food is among the basic physiological needs that must first be met.

He said: “Social issues are not just for government agencies and food charities (to resolve).

“We need everyone to come together to uplift the vulnerable ones, and hopefully we can pass it on to the next generation that everyone has a part to play in social mobility.”

In 2022, FFTH raised $2.6 million worth of pure food donations, and this dropped to $2.4 million in 2023.

Mr Lee said: “Food has become more expensive, so we expect that food donations will drop because people have to take care of their own needs.”

Other food charities also told ST that the rising cost of food has contributed to a decrease in food donations or made it more challenging to prepare meals for the needy.

Ms Nichol Ng, The Food Bank Singapore’s co-founder, said that food has become more expensive in the last two years and food donations in January 2024 have dropped by 50 per cent compared to the same month in 2023.

Ms Ng added that food donations during Chinese New Year 2024 were significantly less than what was collected during the same period in 2023.

Free Food For All told ST that storage prices and the cost of packing their ready-to-eat meals have increased, adding that this could be attributed partly to the goods and services tax hike.

In October 2023, ST reported that Mr Lee said there was a 132 per cent increase in donations in 2020, as many corporations and organisations held fund-raising events to support FFTH.

But he said with the Covid-19 pandemic easing, donations fell by 28 per cent the following year, and added that operational costs have also increased due to fuel and food price hikes.

Mr Lee said that FFTH copes with the increase in food prices and drop in donations by organising food donation drives.

It aims to organise 500 food drives in 2024, in hopes of raising $2.8 million worth of pure food donations.

The next major food donation drive will be on Aug 17 at FFTH’s community shop in Boon Lay with a National Day-themed food drive.

FFTH has the following items on its food wish list for Heart On Wheels 2024:

- Biscuits (200g to 500g assorted flavours)

- Bread spreads (peanut butter, kaya, fruit jam, hazelnut)

- Canned meat (sardine, chicken, pork)

- Cooking oil (one litre)

- Instant beverages (coffee and tea, less sugar)

- Instant noodles

- Milo

- Oats/cereals

- Rice (1kg to 2.5kg)

Members of the public can support Heart On Wheels in the following ways:

1. Drive through to donate at Wearnes Automotive, 45 Leng Kee Road, Singapore 159103.

2. Sponsor a food bundle to support lower income families or students. Heart On Wheels 2024 has already seen $45,000 raised from food bundles.

3. Order food items on FFTH’s wish list and arrange for delivery from one’s preferred online grocer directly to the charity event.