Men brave heavy rain to set up Unmanned Free Food Pantry for West Coast residents

A Stomper was heartened by the sight of two men who braved the rain in order to bring some joy to residents at West Coast on Saturday (Jan 23).

The Stomper shared that it was raining heavily that afternoon when he saw the two men drenched and unloading groceries and other foot items at the carpark of Block 506 West Coast Drive before transferring them by trolley to the block's void deck.

"To my surprise, they started to unpack the cartons and displayed them at the void deck," he said.

"The spread was very comprehensive: Eggs, rice, noodles, mee hoon, canned foods, cooking oil, cereals, biscuits and even disposable masks!!!

"The guys hurriedly unpacked everything and displayed the groceries neatly, and left."

The Stomper said he did not want to disturb the men and only observed them from afar.

"Only when they were gone, I walked up to take a closer look.

"It turned out to be the Unmanned Free Food Pantry.

"Soon, some passers-by helped themselves to the groceries, each person taking a few items.

"Surprisingly no one took a lot at one go.

"I feel it is nice of them to leave groceries for the needy to take."

The Unmanned Free Food Pantry has a Facebook page where they post updates on pantry set ups across the island.

In their profile, they write: "Adhoc Unmanned Free Food Pantry is meant to give residents a pleasant surprise.

"Unmanned is to give beneficiaries some [dignity].

"We trust that everyone will take what is needed.

"If we cannot help everyone, at least we help someone."