Daniel Yap's group rescues 8,000kg to 9,000kg of unsold fresh produce a week to give to needy families.
SINGAPORE - Once a karung guni man salvaging cardboard and old televisions to eke a living, Mr Daniel Yap now leads a group that rescues “ugly” food which feeds thousands of families yearly.
Mr Yap knows the vendors by name – a trust that has been built over years since he started rescuing food in 2018. This can be through achievements that put Singapore on the world stage, or by going beyond the call of duty to selflessly improve the lives of others in the community, among other ways.Mr Yap, who owns a provision shop in Little India, founded the FRC in 2020 after realising there was food surplus that could be given to those in need.
Mr Daniel Yap loading unsold fruits and vegetables from wholesalers onto a lorry at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, on Oct 22. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOOAt Serangoon Community Club on Oct 22, for instance, more than 100 people were waiting to pick up their groceries. Volunteers helped to sort out the food, cut away the rotten parts and ensured it was ready for collection by the beneficiaries.
After he failed his Secondary 1 exams, he dropped out of school and went straight to work, scouring neighbourhoods for scrap to resell. From there, he moved to various jobs, working in hardware stores and convenience shops. “At that point, I really did not know what I was doing, and I still did not have any direction or purpose.”
In 2018, Mr Yap, and his mentor, Mr Daniel Tay, co-founder of Freegans Singapore, started a community group called SG Food Rescue, where they distributed food to low-income families in areas like Bukit Merah and Marsiling. “Without him, FRC would collapse,” said volunteer Caroline Chia, 44, describing Mr Yap as a “hands-on person with a really big heart”.‘Ugly’ veggies that no one buys add to Singapore’s huge food waste
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Body of 76-year-old retired Singaporean teacher who went missing near Mount Everest found“The worst snowstorm” meant that full rescue efforts only began on Tuesday, five days after Mr Harry Tan went missing.
Read more »
Body of 76-year-old Singaporean hiking near Mount Everest foundSINGAPORE —The body of retired teacher Harry Tan, 76, who went missing while hiking near Mount Everest, was found on Friday (Oct 4) after a search and rescue operation that lasted more than a week. Tan reportedly went missing on Sept 26 near the 5,500m-high Kongma La Pass in Nepal, which is south of Everest Base Camp. Friends of Tan...
Read more »
17-year-old self-radicalised Singaporean arrested weeks before planned attack in Tampines‘This was a very close shave,' says Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.
Read more »
Singaporean of the Year finalist: A mother built a community for caregivers of special needs kidsHer non-profit initiative CaringSG has grown from 1,000 members in its first year in 2020 to 5,000 at present.
Read more »
S’pore group rescues over 9,000kg of food weekly amid growing interest in sustainabilityThe food collected by Fridge Restock Community is enough to feed about 1,500 families each week.
Read more »
Why was S. Iswaran handed a one-year jail sentence?In a surprise decision, former Transport Minister S. Iswaran was handed a one-year jail sentence on Oct 3. This exceeded the requests of both prosecution and defence, which Justice Vincent Hoong described as “manifestly inadequate.” Deputy Attorney-General (DAG) Tai Wei...
Read more »