Project Daily Bread
Project Daily Bread is a charity initiative started by The Eastern Gate Lodge in 2014 in an to reach out to the poor and sickly in Singapore. The Lodge collaborated with the Hospice Care Association of Singapore to leverage their knowledge to identify those in need of assistance.
Every month the Brethren of Eastern Gate Lodge and their families meet up to shop for groceries and medical items. We will then proceed to deliver these items to the homes of the needy and terminally ill beneficiaries from the lower segment of society. Each month, we get to meet and deliver supplies to five recipient families who are hospice care patients. Thus, we would have reached out to 60 different families each calendar year.
On 1 September 2018, The Eastern Gate Lodge 2970 decided to embark on a “Special Edition” Charity event. We distributed groceries and basic essentials to the lower income elderly residents in the Redhill/Bukit Merah vicinity. This precinct in Singapore had a higher percentage of low income elderly residents living in one room government rental flats. We collaborated with the APEX Club of Singapore, a Voluntary Welfare Organisation registered with the National Council of Social Service. Volunteers numbering up to seventy people consisting of Brethren of The Eastern Gate Lodge 2970, Brethren of sister lodges, youths from a Church group and local volunteers turned up at a void deck which we made as our supply base. From there we started organising our “supply chain” as well repackaging some of the food stuff. The elderly and needy residents came by to collect the foodstuff and donated items. Our volunteers were also ready to help carry and deliver these items to their homes. We were fortunate to have served 140 needy families that day. The funds used to purchase these food items were totally from the Lodge’s charity fund as well as generous individual donors. The amount spent on that one day event amounted to S$6500. (RM$19,800) Not only did we, as a Lodge help provide basic necessities for the less fortunate, but we found that charity activities like this helped the Brethren and their families bond closer as a Lodge.
Note:The Eastern Gate Lodge 2970 has now helped and given relief to more than 708 needy families since we started the Project Daily Bread program.
