Give or Get a free meal

while supporting our hawkers and F&B stalls

 

Belanja Eat relies on an honour system. Just like all things, there will always be people who abuse it.

Yet, in these hard times, there are truly people who need the free meal and are too paiseh to ask for help. They may also not qualify for government support or relief yet.

That's why Belanja Eat is a no-questions-asked, no-judgement, pay-it-forward system. Have more faith in people lah.

Some hawker stall owners have told us their tips! Here's some:

a) Indirect way:

"Hello customer! Do you know of anyone who needs a belanja?

We got kind people who have pre-paid for some meals and it is free!

No need to apply, no need paiseh. Super simple. Times are bad lah, that's why must help one another!"

b) Share about Belanja Eat:

"Wah, these are really jialat times. I'm sure a lot of people would need a free meal.

See... this Belanja Eat project good, machiam kampung spirit lah - if you've some extra, you buy a meal for others. If you need, just take a free meal. Sharing is caring!"

No lah! Please don't "interview" or reject anyone who asks for a Belanja Eat free meal.

We can't always tell who needs a meal just based on how they look. Some may have just lost a job, or are having a hard time at home.

Don't go and make them paiseh by interviewing them, rejecting them or staring at them up and down ok.

We all go through rough periods and this is a challenging time. Let's help one another and trust each other more. The donors of the meals have the same trust too!

It's ok! Please smile and offer the customer the free meal. Don't reject or stare at the person ok? It's not easy for the customer to be coming forward to request for a free meal. Like many of us, he/she may be going through a difficult period.

You can ask your regular customers for help? Or other stall holders?

The poster template can be found here.

If really cannot, drop us an email or Facebook message, and we'll help you find volunteers who stay near you who can help.

If no one claims a free meal after 3 days, let us know. We'll put it on social media to help promote.

If there are more than 10 meals left unclaimed after 1 month, the stall owner can also decide to donate the cooked meals to charitable organizations or beneficiaries. You can donate the money to The Courage Fund, or go to SG United to see how else they can help.

If you have 20 meals (circles) donated, please stop accepting new donations. Wait till the free meals have been redeemed.

Remember ah, don't reject anyone who asks for a free meal! We all have our bad times - let's help one another.

If all 20 meals have been donated and redeemed (circles are ticked), please do not take down the poster. You can:

1. Print a new poster, then take down the old one; or

2. Paste a blank sheet of small paper over the boxes and draw lines :)

As Belanja Eat is currently managed by volunteers, we plan to run this initiative to 10 August 2020. We will discontinue active management of the website & our social media operations then.

That said, individual hawker/F&B stall owners are welcome to decide if they wish to continue with the initiative on their own - we've tried to simplify the process as much as possible so that any one can implement it!

Here's what works best for us so far:

a. we usually start with "Uncle / Auntie, we want to buy people free food, you want to help?"

b. Then show the poster and explain how people can buy a meal for others and mark a circle. Utilise the Belanja Eat setup checklist to make sure you've covered all grounds.

When someone comes and wants to redeem a free meal, mark a tick.

Usually at this time, they will agak-agak understand the concept.

c. Then ask them what's their most popular or nutritious meal. If they're ok, write down the dish name and price on the poster.

d. What's really helpful is to get the ball rolling by offering to donate a few meals!

So we tell the Uncle / Auntie we want to donate 2-3 meals. Pass him/her the money then draw 2-3 circles.

Then walk Uncle / Auntie through the steps again. Remind them to brief other staff running the stall too!

If someone wants to treat a meal, then draw a new circle.

Remind them not to "interview" or reject anyone who asks for a Belanja Eat free meal. We cannot always tell who needs a meal, just based on how they look like. Some people may have just lost their job or money is tight at home. Remember, no judgement!