THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
A NEWSLETTER BY THE FOODBANK SINGAPORE
THANK YOU FOR MAKING
2014
AN AMAZING YEAR! Read on to find out why... (Recapping on our past events, projects and programmes)
MESSAGE FROM OUR CHIEF FOOD OFFICERs
THE BANK BOOK
It gives us great honour and privilege to share our first ever newsletter with you. Reflecting on the past two years, we have accomplished some very exciting and interesting projects. However, the journey for The Food Bank Singapore has barely begun and our team is gearing up for a challenging yet fruitful 2015 with many plans in the pipeline. Do enjoy reading our newsletter and if you should have any ideas to share with us, Please do not hesitate to contact us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your support and encouragement thus far. And remember……Do Not Bin It When You Can Eat It!
-January 2015-
Greetings from The Food Bank Singapore! We are bringing to you a review of 2014 and highlight of what is up and coming! 2014 has been an exciting year and we believe that 2015 will be even more thrilling as we set new goals and targets to bring us to the next level. To those who have supported us in any way, thank you so much! We hope that you will continue to enjoy your journey with us.
CONTENT PAGE Announcements
03
Food Collections
04-05
Thank you!
Programmes
06-07
Nichol Ng & Nicholas Ng Chief Food Officers & Co-Founders
Events
08-11
Foodbankers
12
What’s Happening in 2015
13
announcements
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
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official member of The global food banking network We are pleased to announce that The Food Bank Singapore has been officially accepted as an accredited member of The Global Food Banking Network, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to creating and strengthening food banks around the world. For more information on The Global Food Banking Network, visit: www.foodbanking.org
our first official corporate video
Click here to view the video! FoodBank Ambassador
FB Ambassador 1
FB Ambassador 2
FOOD COLLECTIONS
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
04
OUR RECORDS
OUR FIRST FOOD BANK VAN!
The Food Bank Singapore has been collecting and redistributing an average
60 tonnes
of of excess food every month to the people in need.
FOOD DRIVES Student Chapter Food Drive held by UN
Throughout the year, the volume of food donated to The Food Bank Singapore varies. However, the need for food is constant. Food drives are a great way to generate additional donations for The Food Bank Singapore to ensure a steady supply of food items, and at the same time, raise awareness about hunger issues and food wastage in Singapore. In 2014, The Food Bank Singapore collaborated with 27 organisations ranging from schools, to corporations and other associations to organise food drives. We are thankful for their support and look forward to more collaborations in 2015.
Food Drive held by a team from National University of Singapore
FOOD COLLECTIONS
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
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bank box The Food Bank Singapore launched the Bank Box programme on December 2013 with a mission to encourage food recycling. The Bank Box is a container used to store unwanted non-perishable food items that are unopened, unused and with at least four weeks of shelf-life.
In 2014, more than 20 corporations adopted our Bank Boxes and placed them at their pantry to encourage their employees to donate their excess food to us. Some individuals also supported by placing a Bank Box at their houses and encouraging their neighbours to contribute to our cause.
On October 18, we officially launched our Mega Bank Box at City Square Mall! It is now located at level 2, beside the customer service counter. Our second Mega Bank Box was placed at Quayside Isle, B1 outside the management office on 23 Dec 2014. For 2015, we are targeting to roll out more Mega Bank Boxes island-wide to make food recycling and donations easier for our donors.
programmes
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06
joy in every bundle
Corporate volunteers from Bank of Americai Merill Lynch in action!
New Creation cell group spending their group outing session packing food bundles.
Joy In Every Bundle was launched to make donations hassle-free and easy for donors. Instead of going all the way to the supermarkets to purchase food items and delivering them to us. Donors can simply purchase our food bundles from our website. The food items in the bundle are purchased by The Food Bank Singapore at a discounted price, making them value for money! A total of 4200 food bundles were donated by organisations and individuals, packed and distributed to our member beneficiaries in 2014. Besides donating food bundles, many corporations and group volunteers took time out to help pack and physically distribute the food bundles door-to-door to the people in need. We would like to thank them for their contribution! In 2015, we are planning to launch healthier choice of food bundles to raise the awareness about healthier food donations. We hope to gain your continuous support for our Joy In Every Bundle Programme. The team members from YUM Group packing rice for the people in need.
programmes
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
07
educational talks & Advocacy Students from Tanjong Katong Secondary School helping at the warehouse
Students from Pierce Secondary helping with Project X-pired cans labeling Educational Talk with SaladStop! at Day Break Student Care Centre
Besides bridging the gap between donors and our member beneficiaries. The Food Bank Singapore also places a great emphasis on education as we see the importance of educating the younger generation on food wastage and hunger issues in Singapore. In 2014, we held 22 education talks which reaches out to 2910 students from secondary schools, tertiary institutions, and also international schools. On November 12, The Food Bank Singapore collaborated with SaladStop! to hold an educational talk at Day Break Student Care Centre to share our
Conference with Student Leaders’ uncil National Youth Co
knowledge on food wastage issues and also to promote healthy nutrition to children. In 2015, The Food Bank Singapore is planning to start a Food Bank Juniors Club where we will seeks ways to engage children as young as five to twelve to encourage volunteerism from young.
events
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
high-tea get together - March 2014
The year kicked off with a tea session with our member beneficiaries! On March 28, The Food Bank Singapore organised a high-tea session with our member beneficiaries to share our upcoming plans and gather feedbacks on how we can better serve them. The event was held at Singapore Management University, 4point3 cafe. Representatives from our member beneficiaries came down for a short and sweet interactive session with light snacks and treats. Since our establishment in 2012, The Food Bank Singapore’s member beneficiaries list have grown from 30 to 130. Our members range from Family Service Centres, various types of homes, soup kitchens, and other Voluntary Welfare Organisations. Through this event, we have improved our member beneficiaries’ understanding of our operations and spur more collaboration opportunities.
08
events
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
Food & hotel asia - April 2014
The Food Bank Singapore was appointed as the sole charity to collect excess food from exhibitors at Food & Hotel Asia 2014. The event was held at Singapore Expo from April 8 to 11. We were delighted with the appointment as FHA is Asia’s largest food fair. Being appointed shows how far The Food Bank Singapore has come since our establishment in 2012. At the mammoth FHA, The Food Bank Singapore collected eight truckloads of excess food worth nearly $100,000. Not only did we managed to reduce food wastage, the premium foods collected benefitted many of our
member beneficiaries. Some of them also came down to help out with the sorting and packing. FHA has given us the exposure to 10 halls of potential donors, enabling us to share more about who we are and what they can do to support our cause. We are grateful and happy to work with Singapore Exhibition Service on FHA 2014. This is the first time that The Food Bank Singapore has salvaged excess food at a food exhibition and we are looking forward to doing so at other such shows.
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THE BANK BOOK
events
-January 2015-
10
project X-pired - october 2014 The Food Bank Singapore also collaborated with The Singapore Chef’s Association in preparing a buffet of creative dishes using food items that are frequently donated.
A RT P I E C E S
STO P! AND SMEL L T H E F L OWE R S
Besides the art exhibition, there was also a line-up of engaging performances from our member beneficiaries and other associations. The Food Bank Singapore initated Project X-pired to raise awareness of food wastage in Singapore. The event was held at City Square Mall, B1 Fountain Square on October 18 and 19. In collaboration with Edible Art Movement, Project X-pired featured art pieces made from expired food and an exhibition on food wastage in Singapore.
The Food Bank Singapore also launched our first food recycling bin (Bank Box) during the event and held a Mega Food Drive. Many home consumers came by to donate food items to us in support of our cause.
HOTEL A PPL E S
Through Project X-pired, we have managed to raise the awareness of food wastage issues in Singapore. We hope for your continued support for Project X-pired 2015!
HOL EY C A L F
HIGHLIGHTS PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT C AMERA
BUFFET LUNCH BY THE SINGAPORE CHEFS' ASSOCIATION
CREATIVE HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES
CITY O F FO O D
OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE FOOD BANK SINGAPORE VIDEO
OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF BANK BOX AT CITY SQUARE MALL
PERFORMANCES BY OUR BENEFICIA RIES
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A LL IS O N E NO.2
events
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
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the honestly good jars - october 2014
The Food Bank Singapore collaborated with Comcrop, a social enterprise, in The Honestly Good Jars Project, which encourages eating food without artificial preservatives. The event was held on October 4 and 5 at
Kranji Countryside Farmers’ Market. Chefs from El Mero Mero, Halia, and The Tuckshop volunteered their time and effort to make delicious goodies in support of the project. Ninety percent of the proceeds from the jars were channelled to The Food Bank
Bank Singapore also shared with the audience about food wastage and hunger issues in Singapore. We are thrilled by the overwhelming support that we received. All the jars were sold out! We look forward to the next Farmers’ Market and more opportunities for The Honestly Good Jars Project.
Singapore. A workshop was also conducted at Farmers’ Market to teach consumers on how to jar food without using artificial preservatives. The Food
Christmas Social bazAar - december 2014 The Food Bank Singapore participated in Liang Court’s Social Christmas Bazaar from December 5 to 7. T-shirt, chocolates, and other merchandise were sold to raise funds. This was our very first bazaar activity and we are look to more of such in 2015.
THE BANK BOOK
foodbankers
-January 2015-
12
our volunteers
Delivery Assistant
Event Team
Volunteers helping with inventory taking!
Volunteers helping with food packing!
The Food Bank Singapore would like to thank our volunteers who have helped make things happen and keep our spirit going. Be it warehouse assistants, delivery assistants or drivers, they played a huge role in all that we have achieved today. Thank you, Foodbankers, for your time and effort!
what’s happening in 2015 food rescue project The Food Bank Singapore is embarking on The Food Rescue Project with a mission to salvage excess cooked foods from F&B establishments. Under this project, we plan to set up a central kitchen to cook, reheat and pack food collected into meal boxes which will be distributed to the needy through our network of member beneficiaries.
THE BANK BOOK -January 2015-
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The Food Bank Singapore is working with a Food Hygience Consultant and a laboratory partner to conduct a series of tests to ensure that the food quality meets the required standards for distribution.
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2015 and launched it on a national level by end of 2015.
This project is another extension of our mission against food wastage. We are targeting to roll this project out to more partners by June
other highlights to look out for! The Food Bank Staples Drive
Launch of The Food Bank Juniors Club
Project X-pired Part II
And more!
LET THE FEEDING BEGIN! The Food Bank Singapore’s Team The Food Bank Singapore Ltd Contact: 68315395 Email: enquiries@foodbank.sg Add: 39 Keppel Road #01-02/04, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore 089065 Website: www.foodbank.sg
Jo-an Choo Nichol Ng Nicholas Ng Goh Chong Meng Pea Shermain Management Management Co-founder Co-founder Executive Associate Associate Director