Saturday, 16 July 2016 – Singapore Red Cross Youth and its Project R.I.C.E.+ partners, Grab Singapore and Sheng Siong Supermarket, today ran an islandwide distribution of 15,520 hampers comprising food, beverages and household essentials, to needy families.

Red Cross Youth’s Project R.I.C.E.+ is a student-led collection drive and is in its seventh year running. Close to 200 youth volunteers thronged 26 Sheng Siong supermarkets from 28 May and 5 June to raise awareness of the needs faced by economically-challenged families, and to rally donations for customised hampers for specific needs. The community has responded overwhelmingly, contributing 15,520 hampers for these families, which benefitted over 10,000 individuals.

35 Community-Led Action for REsilience (C.L.A.R.E.) volunteers from Singapore Red Cross and members of Tampines West Grassroots also helped with the packing and distribution. Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform and the official transport partner for Project R.I.C.E+, deployed 12 GrabCar drivers to enable the delivery of 400 hampers from point-to-point.

Mr Sahari Ani, Director of Red Cross Youth, said, “We are thrilled by the positive response from the donor community, evident from the number of hampers rallied over the past months. We are also very happy to have onboard great partners such as Grab Singapore and Sheng Siong Supermarket, in our service to the vulnerable. I am proud of our Red Cross Youth for spearheading this meaningful initiative, which I am sure will bring warmth to the beneficiaries whom we will visit today.”

“We care about giving back to the society and so do our drivers. Grab is actively creating social impact in our communities and Project R.I.C.E+ is a meaningful initiative to give back to needy Singaporean families,” said Kok Yiling, Regional Safety Lead, Grab. “This is one of Grab’s many community outreach efforts. In August, we will also be honoring our pioneer generation in partnership with Singapore Red Cross.”

About Project R.I.C.E.+
Spearheaded by the SMU and NUS Red Cross Youth Chapters, Project R.I.C.E.+ mobilises hundreds of youth volunteers every year, to encourage the community to help those in need, with donations towards household essentials of their choice.