I’ve been doing a lot of volunteer time with the folks at the Food Bank Singapore for the last couple of years. When I lived in New York, our school would often have food drives for the NYC Food Bank and so when I moved to Singapore and found that my school had the start of a relationship with the fairly new Food Bank Singapore, I thought that this some work I could carry through from my last experience.

In my roles at the International School, I supported the development of the relationship of the school and the Food Bank by inviting representatives to give information sessions to students, enabling students to hold events to support the Food Bank, and organizing volunteer Saturdays for staff and families.

Although I have left that school community, I didn’t want my relationship with the folks at the Food Bank to cease because this is eradicating hunger is a cause I strongly believe in. The system isn’t ideal here in Singapore, but they are doing fairly well securing donations from large companies, hotels and the general public for beneficiaries. This community support clearly benefits the 10% of Singaporeans that are food insecure, but of course, the hope is that over time these beneficiaries will be able to become food secure on their own (as with any public service to the community).

If you are looking for a place to volunteer, Food Banks offer a number of different opportunties. Here are some of the things I’ve helped out with:

1. Inventorying food at the warehouse
2. Packing food bundles for beneficiaries
3. Help littlies pack bags for delivery in the community
4. Canvassing at the Food Expo & other large events
5. Raising awareness of local food waste problems
6. Assist at the Grab & Go (free food pick-ups to beneficiaries)
7. Leading students in sorting food
8. Chatting with many volunteers
9. Data entry of requests and food distribution
10. Researching worldwide food waste issues, etc.

Likely there is something that you may be interested in helping with, so get out there and do it!