Strangers Help Family On Home Quarantine By Leaving Groceries For Them At Their Doors

While there are some despicable people who profit off of others during this time of crisis where the spread of COVID-19 is rampant, there are others who are much more caring in nature.

When one is left quarantined to their own homes, how do they get food if they failed to stock up beforehand? Yes, the answer is that they depend on online grocery delivery services that deliver either on the same day or the following day. However, with so many Singaporeans panic-buying the past week and leaving so many of the shelves empty, delivery services have been pushed back later than usual.

So how else are they supposed to get food? Well, the answer lies in the good-hearted people around us.

Anonymous Santa Claus?

According to an interview conducted by TODAYonline with a family of five living in the northern part of Singapore, the head of the family, a technician in his 40s said that their two-week quarantine started on Tuesday after his wife stayed in the same ward in a local hospital as a patient who was later confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.

With no grocery delivery services available, they resorted to ordering food online through GrabFood, but they soon found that this was not sustainable because of the high costs incurred, especially since the head of the family only brings home less than $2,000 a month, and only one of his three children is working. The rest are either schooling or in between jobs, and his wife is a housewife.

While it may seem like they’re probably going to starve, all hope is not lost. Thankfully for them, the technician’s wife regularly does voluntary work at charities and family services centres, and news of a volunteer in need started travelling.

Soon, the family found packages of groceries and food right outside their doorstep after their doorbell rang. Left by whom? None of them knows. 

The technician said, “They don’t show their face. They didn’t talk to us. We don’t know who these people who came are. We hear the doorbell, and we see food. It’s like Santa Claus had just dropped a parcel.”

As of now, there have already been four of such deliveries, and no repayment was asked from the family.

Care Packages

So what are the items that were donated to the family?

Well, they include:

• toilet paper rolls
• boxed tissue
• milk
• cheese
• sausages
• frozen chicken nuggets
• frozen chicken drumsticks
• instant noodles
• apples
• oranges

These items were clearly a big help to the family because it didn’t only serve their immediate needs, but it also cheered them on that and made them happy because there were people who were supporting them.

The technician added, “Luckily we have some good-hearted people around. If we don’t have these people, how are we going to survive?”

He also mentioned that he wouldn’t demand anything from the volunteers and would simply take whatever that they give. After all, they were doing them a huge service.

“We are thankful… Once we are out of this quarantine, we will pass on the kindness and give back to whoever needs the help.”

Groceries > Daily Meal Deliveries

According to the technician, while the Ministry of Health (MOH) encourages those who are quarantined to order fast food from McDonald’s and other caterers who do “wholesome meal deliveries”, he still believes that a grocery run is desired more than daily meal deliveries.

He elaborated that his family believes that someone who helps them to get groceries would sustain them longer and not result in a fuss over food.

With regards to online grocery delivery services, representatives of FairPrice and Redmart have stepped out to apologise for their delay in services, explaining that they are still recovering from the effects of panic buying. Redmart has also clarified that they will probably only be able to resume normal services next week.

It is nice to see people in Singapore helping out other fellow Singaporeans during this time of crisis. It is definitely admirable and we should all commend them for it. Perhaps this would also inspire you to do the same for others in need.