Little India soup kitchen appeals to volunteers to avoid cancelling without prior notice

Little India soup kitchen says volunteers have been cancelling without prior notice

Krsna’s Free Meals, a soup kitchen in Little India, recently took to TikTok to raise concerns about multiple volunteers cancelling on them without prior notice.

It explained that volunteers would sign up as a group but fail to show up completely when one member cannot make it.

The soup kitchen is now appealing to volunteers to give a heads up if they intend to cancel their attendance.

Little India soup kitchen facing volunteer attendance issues

In its video, Krsna’s Free Meals shared that it would expect a full crew of volunteers to turn up in the morning, only to see nobody.

“Please let us know if you will not be coming,” the soup kitchen implored, adding that 2,500 meal recipients depend on them.

Kitchen volunteer Aparna Dubey, 61, told MS News that they began noticing the trend of volunteers cancelling without prior notice since the beginning of the year.

“This happens about 50% of the time every week, which is a lot,” she said. “It can be debilitating as it slows down our operations, but those who are there rise to the challenge as best as they can.”

The kitchen requires 15 volunteers daily, with shifts from 6.30am to 9.30am for breakfast and 9.30am to 2.30pm for lunch.

Volunteers can opt for half shifts during lunch if preferred.

Regular volunteers will often come to help instead

When such cancellations happen, the kitchen has to rely on regular volunteers, who often adjust their schedules to assist.

“Those who can often drop their plans to help us, for which we are extremely grateful,” Ms Aparna said.

Ms Aparna added that if scheduled volunteers continue being no-shows, which was happening more frequently, then the kitchen would be in a tough spot.

“We will call regular volunteers early in the morning at the last minute, and some may come,” she said.

But more often than not, we struggle to do everything in the kitchen while serving those who come to our door.

Dealing with cancellations a ‘real challenge’

Ms Aparna described dealing with volunteer cancellations as a “real challenge”, especially because they aim to serve people promptly.

“These individuals have jobs and limited time,” she noted. “Our goal is to provide them with a fresh meal, helping them perform well at work and bringing a bit of joy to their day with our homestyle cooking.”

Some beneficiaries arrive before 6am to collect their meals, often due to early work commitments.

“Although we officially open at 6.30am, we accommodate early arrivals,” Ms Aparna explained. “Breakfast ends at 9am but if we have leftovers, we will still give it to them.”

If you’re interested in volunteering with Krsna’s Free Meals, reach out via email at admin@krsnasfreemeals.org or sign up on Giving.sg.

Also read: 80-year-old woman volunteers to cook for Bukit Merah elderly home residents every month, buys ingredients herself

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Featured image adapted from @krsnasfreemeal on TikTok.