SINGAPORE - As a gesture of appreciation for their hard work amid the coronavirus pandemic, care packs filled with goodies were given out to cleaners and staff at various MRT stations by volunteer group Be Kind SG over the weekend.

The group distributed care packs to 1,060 cleaners across MRT stations in Singapore on Saturday (July 11) and Sunday.

Each gift consisted of a hand-sewn bag made by volunteers. It contained a note of appreciation on an origami heart, coffee sachets, Oreo cookies, a box of Ricola lozenges and cookies from Metta Cafe, which provides vocational food and beverage training for youth with special needs.

Be Kind SG also gave 146 appreciation packs, containing coffee sachets, cookies and biscuits, to be shared among MRT station staff.

Station staff also received a handmade message board adorned with notes of appreciation on origami hearts.

The group's initiative is supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth's Our Singapore Fund.

Meanwhile, Ricola helped to sponsor the lozenges and social enterprise serendipET volunteers helped the group distribute the packs at the stations.

Be Kind SG project lead and core team member Tan Yan Zhi, 34, said the group started the initiative as it realised that MRT station cleaners and staff are working much harder amid the coronavirus pandemic to safeguard the health of commuters.

"We hope that the station cleaners and staff will be comforted by the fact that their efforts to safeguard commuters' health during this Covid-19 period have not gone unnoticed," he said.

The group's founder Sherry Soon, 39, said it has packed and distributed more than 9,000 care packs to healthcare staff and various non-profit organisations since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.