NTUC FairPrice today (January 19) donated S$40,000 worth of goodie bags containing essential items and red packets to 1,000 needy families in Singapore as part of a food distribution programme by voluntary welfare organisation Food From The Heart. As part of the food distribution programme, NTUC FairPrice staff, including members of its executive management team, joined hands with volunteers from Food From The Heart to deliver the goodies to needy residents in one-room flats at Redhill Close.

Mr Wee Leong How, General Manager of NTUC FairPrice Foundation and Managing Director (Corporate Services) NTUC FairPrice, said: “As we gear up to celebrate this lunar new year, we do not forget the underprivileged in the community who need our care and support. We are glad to partner Food From the Heart to provide food for needy residents so as to bring festive cheer to them during this season.”

Mr Wee was joined by General Manager of FairPrice subsidiary Cheers Holdings, Mr Koh Kok Sin, and other FairPrice staff to deliver the goodies to the needy residents. The goodie bags contain essential items such as oil, rice, and canned food.

NTUC FairPrice has supported Food From The Heart since 2006. In March last year, FairPrice Foundation gave $200,000 to Food From the Heart to support their objective in providing food for the needy. In May, with rice prices on the increase, NTUC FairPrice provided Food From The Heart 900 bags of rice at subsidised rates as they had difficulty obtaining rice at a reasonable price for the Food Goodie Bag Programme.

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About Food From The Heart

Food From The Heart is a registered non-profit organisation which runs a voluntary food distribution programme. Its volunteers collect unsold bread from participating bakeries and deliver them to 120 welfare organisations such as children’s homes, homes for the elderly, associations for the disabled and activity centres for senior citizens. An average of 18,000 kg of bread is collected and given to the needy each month. The organisation also works with 29 food distribution centres, residents’ centres and schools to distribute goody bags containing essential food items to needy families each week. From From the Heart celebrated its 5th anniversary with Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and 1,000 volunteers last year (2008) at the National Museum of Singapore.