COVID-19: Here's How You Can Help Foreign Workers In Stuck In Dormitories Like This Woman Who Bought S$100 Worth Of Food For Them

As the numbers for new COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Singapore, particularly amongst foreign workers in Singapore where a vast majority of new cases involving those from dormitories, Singaporeans have rallied to provide help and assistance.

One GrabFood delivery rider, Twitter user @Mxhdlskandar, tweeted about a delivery he made on behalf of a customer, Eve Tan.

He shared screenshots of his conversation with her on Tuesday (April 14) where she made an order of $100 worth of food to be delivered to the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which has been gazetted as an isolation site, with a note that the order was “for the Bangladeshi quarantined there or working staff”[sic].

Help foreign workers stuck in dormitories in Singapore: Singaporeans rallying to provide help and assistance | Image: Twitter/@MxhdIskandar

Aside from these personal efforts, many other community groups have also rallied together to organise fundraisers and volunteer efforts that would meet the needs of the foreign workers in Singapore during this period.

 

 

 

 

 

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We’re proud to support the NGOs involved in the Covid-19 Migrant Worker Efforts Coalition during this time, doing live #graphicrecording on a conference call to help consolidate the solutions proposed to support our migrant workers. More than 48,000 migrant workers are currently under quarantine in designation isolation dorms, while hundreds and thousands of migrant workers are currently confined to their dormitories as part of stay-home measures. Many of the residents need assistance in meeting their basic needs. You can: 1. Donate to the list of NGOs listed. Monetary donations will help them allocate resources accordingly based on needs 2. Contact the NGOs if you can help with their supply needs. (tinyurl.com/covid-migrantneeds) 3. Share these images to get the word out to your network! We thank you for your generous support of the migrant worker community in this difficult time! #SGUnited 🇸🇬

A post shared by Idea Ink (@_ideaink) on Apr 11, 2020 at 2:10am PDT

While sending food in a personal capacity to the dormitories is definitely well-intentioned, you may also be deciding whether or not to donate your solidarity payout. You could also consider volunteering with organisations that have knowledge and direct access to foreign workers living in Singapore and are most aware of their current pressing needs.

For those looking to donate their time or money, here’s how you can help foreign workers stuck in dormitories in Singapore:

1. ItsRainingRaincoats

 

 

 

 

 

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HERE IT IS🌟🤩!⁣ ⁣ Our amazing volunteer leader Ruchi @rtriv and our poster gal Dora @dfordrying burrowed in most of last night and today to produce a consolidated microsite of everything you can do to help #ItsRainingRaincoats at this time all in one place and this poster! So many of you have been asking for it❤️.⁣ ⁣ Here it is. Share away!⁣ ⁣ https://tiny.cc/IRR-C19

A post shared by ItsRainingRaincoats (@itsrainingraincoats) on Apr 15, 2020 at 4:22am PDT

Choose from a wide array of projects and initiatives that the non-profit organisation conducts to help migrant workers during COVID-19.

You can donate towards healthy meals or specific needs that workers have, send supplies like toiletries, nutritious snacks, treats and sanitisers, or conduct virtual English tutoring lessons for workers.

Click here for the full list of initiatives.

2. Migrant Workers’ Centre

 

 

 

 

 

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By this evening, we will have distributed 200,000 reusable masks to migrant workers in dormitories across the island (or 2/3 of the migrant worker population living in all our dormitories). We will continue to contact dormitories which haven’t collected their masks and expedite collection within the next two days. We want to assure all our migrant brothers and sisters in dormitories that you will receive your reusable masks through your dormitory operator – and we have sufficient stock for everyone. Concurrently, we have started mixing, bottling and packaging hand sanitizer concentrate into 350,000 500ml bottles. These are also meant for all our brothers and sisters residing in dormitories. Production began today and we want to express our sincere gratitude to the management and staff of Harry’s Singapore who have committed to support our hand sanitizer production with up to 30 volunteers per day for the next two weeks. We also want to thank Temasek Foundation for providing us with the solutions and equipment required to support large-scale production. We hope to produce enough bottles to start distribution through the dormitory operators by some time next week. With the support garnered from our public fund-raising campaign “Migrants We Care”, we will be procuring 350,000 bath soap bars, which we hope to distribute together with our hand-sanitizers over the next two weeks. We thank the generous donors for their support to our migrant community and to our migrant brothers and sisters, we pray you stay strong and keep safe! We’re working round the clock to get these items to the migrant community as soon as possible. #MigrantsWeCare #TogetherWeCanOvercome #MWCcares #sgunited

A post shared by Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) (@mwcsg) on Apr 11, 2020 at 7:33am PDT

The non-governmental organisation is raising funds to buy daily necessities like bathroom essentials for migrant workers who are required to stay in and to provide food and accommodation to those whose flights home were cancelled.

The money will also be disbursed to migrant workers who are not receiving a salary because of the circuit breaker.

Click here to contribute.

3. Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics

Basic healthcare, emergency financial assistance, housing, food and travel for migrant workers is what the charity is raising funds for during this period.

Click here to contribute.

4. Hope Initiative Alliance

 

 

 

 

 

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UPDATE: Today we delivered 1200 sets of lunch and dinner to 600 workers housed across various Factory-converted Dormitories (FCDs). Although we reach 10,000 workers at the height of our efforts, we have unfortunately been restricted by a lack of funds—which need to be sustained over the next 20 days—and have been forced to reduce daily distribution numbers. Help us to do more today. Visit giving.sg/hope-initiative-alliance/guestworkers. ⠀ On Good Friday alone, we delivered 9218 packets of food for lunch and dinner, across 130 FCDs. Accounts from our contacts on the ground have revealed that in some instances, workers were surviving on biscuits for entire days, without any substantial food. ⠀ While one meal costs just $2 on average (or on other urgent occasions owing to a large demand, up to $4), these nationwide efforts need more support to be sustained over the Circuit Breaker period. ⠀ To maintain these efforts over the next 20 days—to provide lunch and dinner for about 10,000 workers whom we have reached thus far (in total), nearly $800,000 will be required. These figures do not include items for basic hygiene such as masks, hand sanitisers and medical kits, which will bring that total to more than $1 Million—just to meet the basic needs of these 10,000 guest workers alone. ⠀ While we hope to assist these 10,000 workers, the needs are far greater than just this number. The 10,000 workers we will be reaching only comprise less than 1% of the 980,000 low-wage workers in Singapore. ⠀ While many of us may be privileged to receive extra funding through the Solidarity budget, these workers do not enjoy the same benefits. If you should have enough, we urge you to consider giving towards this worthy cause. ⠀ ⠀ Help us to do more today.

A post shared by Hope Initiative Alliance (@hia.sg) on Apr 13, 2020 at 9:16am PDT

Under the banner of #HomeForAll, several non-governmental organisations, government agencies and citizens are gathering funds to distribute care meals, raise hygiene standards and provide internet connectivity to workers.

Click here to contribute.

5. SDI Academy

 

 

 

 

 

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The migrant worker community is important and should be protected, especially in times of crisis. Hence, @fundedhere is happy to partner with @sdi.academy to launch 10in10, a fundraising drive that seeks to raise $10k in 10 days for our migrant brothers and sisters who also face the COVID-19 pandemic. Funds will go towards providing COVID-19 hygiene kits that include masks and sanitizers. In addition to the hygiene kits, 10in10 cares for the migrant community by providing them with daily necessities. Obtaining affordable food supplies can be difficult in this time owing to the nature of their working hours, along with temporary shortages due to the hoarding of such essential items. The funds raised from 10in10 will also be used to purchase rice and oil, which will be distributed among migrant worker communities. For every $1000 donated, 10in10 will be able to provide hygiene kits for 100 workers which include 200 masks and 100 bottles of hand sanitizer. 10in10 also aims to purchase 2500kg of rice and 500 litres of oil. Donating is simple and secure through our Give Asia fundraising page: www.give.asia/10in10 The money will benefit the migrant worker community directly, and we hope that you will join us. Everyone deserves to be protected, especially now.

A post shared by SDI ACADEMY (@sdi.academy) on Apr 6, 2020 at 10:55pm PDT

The social enterprise is looking for sponsors keen on providing access to a learning app with customised courses like English, computer literacy, financial literacy and mental well-being.

You can also contribute towards welfare packages comprising hand sanitisers, masks, rice, oil, biscuits, instant noodles and puffed rice.

Click here to contribute.

6. Migrant Worker Benificiary Print Sale by SG Photographers

Eight photographers have banded together to sell their prints with all proceeds going towards the Covid Migrant Support Coalition, comprising Migrant X Me, ItsRainingRaincoats, Citizen Adventures and Singapore Migrant Friends.

Click here to purchase prints.

7. Utopia SG

 

 

 

 

 

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THANK YOU for donating so generously! With your help, we were able to reach our target of 100k a little after 12hours and at the time of writing this, we are almost at 200k! We have been in touch with both HealthServe and TWC2 and received updates about the efforts that your donations will be helpful towards: HealthServe: – Supporting daily operations like healthcare services, tele-counselling, case management and more. -Continue giving out free healthcare packs and financial aid to Special Pass holders not living in dorms. [https://bit.ly/HealthServeFBUpdate] TWC2: -Supporting daily operations like casework assistance, healthcare services, WhatsApp conferencing and more. -Continuing the purchase of prepaid cards for migrant workers to contact loved ones and case workers or TWC2 for required assistance. HealthServe and TWC2 will be receiving the donations from give.asia on a monthly basis unless they request an early transfer. Neither Preetipls nor UTOPIA will be handling any funds. Like we mentioned in the fundraising campaign, the needs of the migrant worker community are changing everyday. As this pandemic develops, the daily operations and services provided by HealthServe and TWC2 are paramount to supporting the migrant worker community. Your donations will allow them to continue providing these services in addition to any new initiatives required to address future needs. For more information about the good work they are currently doing and any other future initiatives, do follow them on their socials. A lot of work lies ahead for us all, but thank you for lending your hand in these unusual times. Your donation is more than just dollars in a bank account of an NGO. It is helping a vulnerable community who are in dire need of our support, and a vote towards a more equitable and liveable Singapore for all.

A post shared by UTOPIA (@utopia.sg) on Apr 9, 2020 at 8:58pm PDT

The crowdfunding campaign by Preeti Nair, also known as Preetipls, will be raising funds for non-governmental organisations, HealthServe and Transient Workers Count Too.

8. Soap Cycling Singapore

Help foreign workers stuck in dormitories in Singapore through Soap Cycling | Image: Twitter/@pumpkinscorch

SoapCycling is aiming to distribute 20,000 bars of soap to migrant workers and low income populations.

Click here to contribute.

Mutual Aid Hub has also compiled a constantly-updated list of non-governmental organisations that are working towards meeting migrant worker’s needs during this COVID-19 period that you can refer to for more ways that you can contribute.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

This post was first published on AsiaOne and was republished on theAsianparent with permission.

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