Instead of frying chickens or baking pizzas, some 90 staff from Yum! Asia were donned in bright pink Meals-On-Wheels (MOW) t-shirts as they packed and delivered meals from July to September to some 50 seniors under TOUCH Home Care (THC). Many of these frail seniors live alone at home or have minimal caregiver support and have difficulty getting their own food because of financial or physical constraints.
"As the world’s largest restaurant company, it is our privilege and responsibility to give back to the communities where we live and work. Meals-On-Wheels is a meaningful platform for our staff to engage and give back to the community by delivering food to the vulnerable seniors in Singapore. TOUCH is a credible and established charity that we’re very happy to work with. Thank you to the warm and professional staff at TOUCH for facilitating a very positive experience for the Yum! Family. Simply Awesome!" said Ms Madelene Sachi, Chairman, Hope Committee, Yum! Asia Franchise (KFC, Pizza Hut & Taco Bell Asia).
“TOUCH Home Care has provided the Meals-On-Wheels service for more than a decade. Over the years, we have seen how a simple act of delivering meals can impact lives – not just for the elderly recipients but for the volunteers too. We hope this can be a catalyst to spur greater volunteerism and giving, and for the community to be more meaningfully engaged in caring for the elderly,” said Director of THC and TOUCH Caregivers Support, Mr Kavin Seow.
THC believes in honouring the pioneer generation with their most basic need - good nutrition - and enabling them to age-in-place in the familiarity of their home and in the community. MOW by THC, a volunteer-driven meals delivery programme, is supported by more than 1,500 volunteers who pack and deliver nutritious meals, twice a day, seven days a week to more than 400 home-bound elderly every month. Without MOW, many immobile elderly who live alone will either starve or turn to innutritious biscuits stored at home to stave off hunger pangs, causing them to suffer from malnutrition and illnesses.
Meals are Halal-certified and include various options such as vegetarian, porridge, soft-diet and diabetic meals. The food in bento boxes are delivered to THC’s centres from a licensed caterer. MOW operates out of its distribution points in Ang Mo Kio, Jurong, Bukit Batok and Toa Payoh, serving elderly residents living in west and central regions of Singapore. Generally, the work involves reporting to the THC office to collect pre-packed food, and driving along a designated route or taking public transport to deliver the meals.
“Meals-On-Wheels is a good platform for corporate partners to fulfil their role as good corporate citizens, as well as provide their staff with first-hand experience on the real needs on the ground as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. Parents and educators can also take advantage of these teachable moments to inculcate good character values,” added Mr Seow.
Special thanks to all our kind volunteers who have taken part in THC’s MOW project! If you have a heart for the elderly and wish to volunteer or take part in Corporate Social Responsibility projects, call 6804 6565 or email [email protected] today!