All thanks to the initiative of a 7-year-old girl named Shakthi, needy people of Bukit Batok West Avenue 8 area now have a place to get essential food items.
Shakthi is a student of Lianhua Primary School, which has an ongoing programme called Project Smile. The core belief of the project is to donate provisions to less fortunate children. Inspired by this initiative, Shakthi decided to do something similar to help people in need.
Here’s how the little girl came up with an idea that brought smiles across several faces.
Project Smile: 7-year-old Kickstarts Project With Her Own Money
Shakthi and her mum, Jmaleni Saravanan, set up a “Care and Share Corner.” Their little place located on the second floor of Blk 170, is filled with 170 items such as instant noodles, canned food, cooking oil, packet drinks, and biscuits.
People interested can visit the place and take what they need.
Speaking to Mothership, Jmaleni shared that they set up the sharing corner on June 1, and it will last till June 30.
Shakthi “kickstarted” the project by donating S$400 from her own pocket. This is no doubt a big amount for a primary school kid. To which her parents explained that they pitched in and with their additional contribution, they managed to buy the first bunch of food items for “Care and Share corner.”
Screengrab: Facebook
Her project garnered more support as volunteers from her schools stepped in to donate more items.
Jmaleni added, “Now we have various people who just come and leave things at our corner and contributing because they want to keep the project going.”
Project Smile: Note of Thanks For Her Kind Gesture
Screengrab: Facebook
Shakthi has received notes of thanks from people who have benefited and there are some families who have also thanked her in person.
The ‘Care and share corner’ gets cleared of food items once every three days. Shakti’s mum shared that the little girl gets excited when she sees people taking items from the corner.
Well, Shakthi is doing a commendable job at her age and is one of the many remarkably heartwarming stories of Singaporean citizens coming forward to help those less fortunate.
Free Groceries Left at Ang Mo Kio By Food Pantry
In April this year, a pop-up giveaway of edible everyday items was seen at Block 406 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. It was arranged by the Food Pantry movement.
The sign for the makeshift giveaway read: “Take what you need. Together we can do a kind deed. A little goes a long way. We hope this brightens up your day.” The free items included packets of instant noodles, canned mushrooms, baked beans, and crackers.
While COVID may have separated us by social distancing, kind gestures shown by people like Shakthi make us believe that humanity will always keep us bonded.
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