SINGAPORE - NTUC First Campus (NFC) plans to support an estimated 2,500 low-income families this year through a $350,000 Food and Nutrition Programme.
It aims to support families with a monthly household income below $4,500 - or monthly per capita incomes below $1,125 - and with a child enrolled in any one of NFC's over 140 My First Skool pre-school centres.
The programme, which involves food packs as well as health and nutrition workshops, is funded by donors to NFC's Bright Horizons Fund, which include investment holding company Pavilion Capital, chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director of Seviora Holdings Jimmy Phoon, and FairPrice Foundation, the charity set up by supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice.
Mr Seah Kian Peng, Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise, said: "NTUC First Campus has joined hands with FairPrice Group to support low-income families and their children under a new Food and Nutrition Programme to make daily necessities accessible to them."
The food packs will include healthy items such as fruits and vegetables, FairPrice Housebrand food products with the "Healthier Choice" label, and Kopitiam cards.
The health and nutrition workshops will cover various child-related health topics such as preparing healthy meals and preventing myopia.
Ms Chan Su Yee, CEO of NTUC First Campus, said: "Nutrition is essential to development and learning in young children. This initiative is part of our efforts to give a leg up to lower-income families who often face greater challenges in ensuring good nutrition."
The programme, which will run till the end of this year, will benefit families such as that of Mr Teo Peng Keng, 56, a former hawker.
He lives with his wife, who is also unemployed, and two children, a son aged three and a daughter 15 months old, in a rental flat in Chin Swee Road.
Mr Teo, who is still looking for a job, said that the food packs will lessen his financial burden as over half of his household's $1,150 monthly government assistance is spent on daily necessities.
Mr Teo has also attended a health and nutrition workshop under the programme.
"I learnt to cook macaroni with carrots. Afterwards, I prepared it for my family and they enjoyed it."
