Volunteering at Willing Hearts’ soup kitchen.
Since I decided that I was not going to travel anywhere during my two week break, I thought of volunteering at a soup kitchen run by Willing Hearts. I called the volunteer coordinator and was told to show up “anytime from 6.30am”, which of course I could not do. But I did manage to drag myself out of bed at 7am, grab a quick breakfast and have K drop me off just after 7.30am.
When I got there, the kitchen was already in full swing, with people cooking food and packing it, and others peeling, chopping and washing vegetables. I found myself at an empty vegetable station, in front of a basketful of cabbage. This was where my complete and utter lack of presence in the kitchen showed itself – I had no clue how to cut the cabbage and had to look at what other volunteers were doing. Once I figured things out, I chopped my way through so many cabbage heads that after a while, I was working in a blur.
As we neared the bottom of the cabbage pile, a lorry drove up and offloaded crates of half-rotten leeks. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” one volunteer told me. Apparently, peeling potatoes is worse. So is broccoli because it comes in crates filled with melted ice cubes, which makes the veg rot. The veg comes from the market where stallholders donate their unsold produce, which explains the slimey soggy mess. Anyway, since I have no frame of reference, the leeks were pretty darn bad. And the smell of them! But there was still good, edible veg to be had under all that slime, so we put our hands to work. I think there were nine crates in all. I helped with three or four then called it a day at 10am. I have never cut so many vegetables in my life.
The soup kitchen cooks and delivers 2,500 packets of food daily to needy families all over Singapore. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best days to go, because that’s apparently when fewer volunteers show up. Things wind down by 10.30am to 11am, so going at 7.30am will give you 3 solid hours of work. I’m planning to go again next Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re going, let me know!
Willing Hearts soup kitchen is at HighPoint Community Services Association at Block 1 Lorong 23 Geylang Road. The person to call if you have any questions is Tony Tay at 9690 2086.
Comments (2)
Oh I wanna go! But can only do so on days off, etc. Will let you know if I can make it next week (unlikely).
What a meaningful way to spend your break – Would love to do it someday!
What are your plans after these 2 weeks are up?