Everyone is battling the endless fight against the pandemic and many are suffering severe impact, both financially and mentally, from the ongoing Movement Control Order (MCO). Even so, many parties, from businesses and NGOs to individuals, are doing their best to help one another.
Ipoh Echo had an exclusive one-on-one interview with the former president of Kiwanis Down-Syndrome Foundation, Ann Tan, who is also the mastermind behind the recent charity bake drive, themed ‘Our Daily Bread’.
Her selfless endeavor started recently (late June) when an idea sparked after coming across home-bakers who would share their baked goods with close ones and their neighbours.
Ann’s passion for baking took a turn for the better the moment she decided to start a charity drive to help those in need. “I’m not only aiding the marginalised in the community but also supporting home-bakers. I started recruiting more of them via social media (Facebook), some even helped me with sourcing people,” she shared.
Spearheading the drive, Ann said her team would bake bread and distribute them at the Go GreenPerak City recycling center in Pasir Puteh. The locals will pick up the baked goods at the center.
Go Green volunteer Michelle Siew said she will collect the bread every week and bring them to the center for distribution. “We hold the distribution three times a week to avoid overcrowding and to prevent double collection, and we always keep track of the recipients who have picked up the items.”
Other than the recycling center, the bread also goes to Dear Dental Clinic and non-profit organisation, Soroptimist International Ipoh (SII) led by President Kimberly Tan. “Homelessness and hunger have been a great deal in many parts of the world. In fact, it happens everywhere, thus I want to extend my support to those who are in dire need of help and I hope my little effort can help feed the hungry ones,” Ann expressed.
The home-bakers are Christine Leow, Vivian Chong, Lynette Tan, Jenny Khor, May Kwan, Irene, Winnie Chong, Jason Chan, Baljeet, Belle, Fiona Toh, Khor Bee Chin, Sally, Vivian Tan and Ann Tan herself.
Bakers who are also helping out are Ng Zeng liang, Intan Zuhuri, Amanda Ma and Celeste Tan.
Everyone is doing their utmost to support the ones struggling to feed themselves or their families during this lockdown. “One of our home-bakers, Jason, would hand knead the bread dough everyday after work and in two days, he would make about 16 loaves of bread!” she marvelled.
According to her, the drive is fully sponsored by Wah Seng (1986) Sdn Bhd, providing them baking supplies such as yeast, flour and sugar. Besides having their ingredients sponsored, they also receive donations in cash from the public.
“Apart from purchasing extra ingredients if needed, the money is used to buy breakfast for the community. We prepare breakfast like noodles or buns which we buy from local vendors as a means to support our local businesses. The packed breakfast will be distributed by our volunteer, Apin, to the people on the street at Cowan Street and Huma Street.
“We don’t judge who we give, but we make sure the people genuinely need it before donating the items,” she said.
Gisele Soo
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