From A Willing Heart to Helping Hands

A growing network of helping hands is leading the charge to put food on the tables where it is most needed. With rewarding and fulfilling volunteer experience last year, more than 35 staff partake in this meaningful community event again at the Willing Hearts’ Soup Kitchen on Saturday, 23rd April 2016.

Willing Hearts’ soup kitchen aims to improve the lives of the underprivileged in the community, including the elderly and children from needy families. Besides providing them with nutritious meals every day, they also offer tuition services to help needy children who are struggling with their studies but are unable to afford it.

First time volunteers have been told about the scale of the operation and the amount of food that needed to be readied and cooked. They were prepared to accept assignment to different stations and began working on their tasks. A total of 4960 hot meals had to be prepared by the end of the day and everyone gave their upmost to prep, slice and dice, all while working towards a common goal.

Alongside our staff, an average of 100 volunteers rock up to the industrial-sized kitchen in the morning by washing and cutting a variety of vegetables into small bite-sizes, cooking, packing the meals and cleaning the workstations.

2 of our volunteers are invited to participate in their free tuition program for the children and help them with their homework. Each volunteer were paired up with one student for a one-to-one tuition session.

Besides the easy camaraderie and conversation, volunteers enjoy an almost immediate return on their labour, seeing the underprivileged get hot meals towards the end of their shift. From a Willing Hearts to Helping Hands event is an opportunity for us to make a difference in our community and offers several learning lessons about compassion, determination and empathy during the process.