The 51-year-old accountant and his sons are volunteers with the Bread Run programme by local food charity Food from the Heart (FFTH).

(From left) Mr Mark Khor taking a photo with his sons Wayne and Zayne at Causeway Point on Nov 26, 2024.

FFTH was started in February 2003 by then Singapore-based Austrian couple Henry and Christine Laimer. They were inspired to channel surplus food from bakeries to families in need after they read an article about bread wastage.

Every day, rain or shine, volunteers collect perfectly edible, unsold bread from their assigned bakeries or hotels and deliver it to people who need it.

BREADY, SET, GO

There are about 100 bread run routes – from donor to bread distribution points – daily, with some volunteers taking on more than one route in a day.

 ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

As the first bakery had no unsold bread, Mr Khor, 17-year-old Wayne and 15-year-old Zayne head for the second bakery in the mall basement.

Mr Khor, Wayne (right) and Zayne collecting two bags of unsold bread packed and left on the shelf by staff at a Causeway Point bakery on Nov 26. He then sends a message on the quantity taken to the Bread Run computer server.

With two big plastic bags full of bread, they return to the car.

After a 15-minute drive, Mr Khor rings the doorbell of a nursing home in Woodlands.

A nursing staff member appears and takes the bags.

Mr Khor learnt about the programme in 2022 from a friend who volunteers as a “bread runner”. He decided to join it in memory of his father, who died in December 2021.

“My father loved to eat bread and drink coffee. Instead of letting unsold bread go to waste, I thought, why don’t I bring the same joy to others in need?”

He then roped in his sons, who join him occasionally on Fridays, as there is no school the next day, and on holidays.

“Bread runs are extra bonding time for us because we get to catch up with one another,” says Wayne.

The family has completed more than 100 runs.

A Bread Run route can be completed within 30 minutes, requiring minimal time commitment.

FOOD FROM THE HEART

With the support of more than 10,000 volunteers, FFTH runs four other food distribution programmes – Community Food Pack, School Goodie Bag, Project Belanja! and Market Place.

Beneficiaries queuing up to receive bread and community food packs at a distribution point in Balam Road in MacPherson on Nov 27. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Bread Run is its longest-running programme and has almost 1,700 volunteers who help distribute bread to close to 120 distribution points across Singapore.

FFTH volunteers (from left) Ong Ai Kiow, Ling Song Peng and Veronica Tan repacking collected bread into smaller bags to be given out at a distribution point in Balam Road on Nov 27. Repacking takes 30 minutes to under an hour.
Ms Ong (centre) handing a bag of bread to a beneficiary in Balam Road on Nov 27.

Some of Bread Run’s bakery partners include BreadTalk, Tiong Bahru Bakery, French fine-dining restaurant Odette, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore and Shangri-La Hotel.

The collected bread goes to welfare homes and social service organisations such as Red Cross Home for the Disabled and Dementia Singapore, as well as lower-income individuals and families under FFTH’s Community Food Pack programme.

Daycare clients preparing peanut butter toast and kaya bread with the donated bread under the guidance of senior nursing aide Purva Thakar (standing) at Dementia Singapore's New Horizon Centre in Bukit Batok on Nov 28, 2024.
Madam Tan Siok Wah, 85, a Dementia Singapore daycare client, enjoying the donated bread.
Daycare client Sapurah Salim (in blue) and fellow seniors being treated to peanut butter toast, steamed kaya bread and bandung during a reminiscing session at the New Horizon Centre on Nov 28.

Bakery partners select and pack the bread for donation with care in plastic bags that are then tied up.

Only bread produced on the day of collection is accepted. Buns with “wet” fillings, such as meat, vegetables and cream cheese are not accepted.

Products that are accepted include buns with dried spices, grains and nuts, non-cream cakes, pastries without fillings and plain bread made on the day of collection.
Baked items that are harder, such as French loaves, are packed at the bottom, while softer, more fragile items are placed on top.

Volunteers are instrumental to the programme, and there are not always enough people to cover all the routes for collection and distribution daily, so some may double up.

“The more volunteers who come forward, the merrier,” says Mr Justin Lim, Bread Run’s programme lead.

Mr Lim transferring containers with bread loaves from a vehicle to a roll cage trolley in FFTH’s warehouse in Joo Seng Road, before they are picked up by volunteers for delivery, on Nov 29.

The 37-year-old liaises with different stakeholders, and coordinates and manages the volunteers and routes.

Mr Lim manages volunteers and the routes they take for collection and delivery of bread, and is the liaison to bakeries and beneficiaries.

While the Khors volunteer on an ad hoc basis, taking up routes on their initiative or being activated when needed, Bread Run relies on its regular runners who are assigned a weekly route.

Madam Sabrina Sng applying the Bread Run programme’s new decal, which identifies her as a volunteer, on her car windscreen on Dec 1.

Madam Sabrina Sng has been volunteering regularly since 2020. The 46-year-old managing director in the automotive industry had been looking for volunteering opportunities during a six-month sabbatical and has since done about 200 runs.

Madam Sng (in red) and her twin daughters, Selene (left) and Ellie, waiting to collect unsold bread at Tiong Bahru Bakery in Eng Hoon Street on Dec 1. She was rerouted as the Tiong Bahru Bakery outlet on her usual route in Maju Avenue did not have unsold bread for collection.

Her 10-year-old twin daughters, Selene and Ellie Ong, starting joining her on bread runs when they were six and are regularly involved during school holidays.

Tiong Bahru Bakery staff packing unsold bread while Madam Sng, Selene (with glasses) and Ellie wait.
The family leaving the bakery in Eng Hoon Street with a bag of bread on Dec 1, 2024.

“School was not so intense (then), so I thought it was good to expose them to the less privileged and to reducing food waste. It’s important for kids to know how privileged they are,” says Madam Sng, whose route is on Sundays.

The girls loading the bag of bread into the boot of their car in Eng Hoon Street.
Madam Sng sending a message detailing the quantity of bread to the Bread Run server.
Madam Sng and her daughters promptly deliver the bread to Madam Annie Chia (left) at a drop-off point in Hougang. The 74-year-old volunteers with the charity Sharing Passion and prepares the bread for distribution the next day.

Each month, about 14,260 people receive bread that would otherwise have been wasted. In 2023, volunteers collected an estimated $2 million worth of unsold bread from 117 bakeries and hotels and delivered it to 116 bread distribution points.

Madam Leong Foo Kuan, 95, savouring a slice of bread under the watchful eye of her shih tzu, An An, after returning to her MacPherson flat from the distribution point on Nov 27.

Mr Robin C. Lee, chief executive of FFTH, says: “It’s incredible how the simple idea of collecting and redistributing surplus bread can result in such a meaningful ripple effect on social welfare and environmental sustainability. Volunteers find fulfilment in giving back, bakeries reduce food wastage and beneficiaries receive food support.

“I see volunteers as the heartbeat of what we do. They are the ones who show up rain or shine, not for recognition, but because they genuinely care. We share the belief that no one in our community should go without – whether it’s food on their table or hope in their hearts.”

Head to www.foodfromtheheart.sg to find out more about its programmes.