Today • • 04 October

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“Drive-thru”: free iftar meals for essential workers to enliven the Ramadhan spirit

After learning that some of his friends who were delivery riders were getting by on just S$30 of income a day as the Covid-19 crisis deepened, Mohd Razib, 55, who does freelance food catering, decided to help out by providing meals for them and other private hire drivers.

So four weeks ago, Mr Razib and about 10 friends took turns to park their car outside the Mukmin Restaurant in Bedok North to distribute packets of food for dinner to these workers.

Every Monday and Thursday, private hire and delivery drivers including those from Grab, Gojek, and ComfortDelGro have been invited to drive by the volunteers’ parked car that contains the meals to receive a packet of food — similar to a “drive-through” concept.

[Source: Mohd Razib]

The team invited friends who were private hire drivers to spread the word about the meals on their personal Facebook pages.

“The drivers would drive by our stationary car, roll down their windows and take the food, it’s all done very quickly,” Mr Razib said.

The free meals programme has also provided some Muslims with a meal to break their fast.

Since Ramadan began on April 24, the team has given out about 200 packets in a day as demand for their meals grew. They also changed the distribution time to dinner time so the meals are fresh when Muslim delivery riders break their fast.

One reason for distributing the meals was that mosques usually give out porridge or other meals and drinks to allow Muslims to break their fast. But they have closed during this period, so Mr Razib wanted to ensure they had meals.

“I also wanted to help give out the meals because I know what it’s like growing up poor and being hungry,” he said, adding that he had to skip meals while he was in primary and secondary school.

“I want to spend my last years doing something to benefit others, however I can provide for them.”

[Source: TODAY Online]