Shocked by reports of bakeries and cake shops throwing out good bread by the truckload at the end of the business day, Austrian-born Christine and her husband Henry Laimer began Food from the Heart, channelling unsold bread to various needy institutions.

Across bakeries and cafés in Singapore, cakes, bread buns and pastries live a brief life as tempting treats, but at the end of the day, when the ovens cool and the cash registers are emptied, much of this food makes its way into bins.

Stopping the waste

In 2003, Food From The Heart entered the scene to stop the waste. Started as a bread distribution programme with a small team of some 300 volunteers, the programme has grown its volunteer base tenfold.

Driven by Christine’s passion and Henry’s background in logistics, Food from the Heart today serves more than 120 welfare homes and distributes about 16,000kg of bread a month. Volunteers are in charge of collecting unsold bread from bakeries and hotels each day and and distributing the food.

The organisation has also started about 17 self-collection centres, in collaboration with community Resident Committees, to distribute bread and non-perishable food items to needy families and individuals.

For its efforts, Food from the Heart received the Outstanding New Initiative Award by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre in 2004, and Christine was recognised as the International Woman of the Year 2006/2007 by the American Women Association.

Here, Henry and Christine talk about their big-hearted project.

How do you juggle this with your own career?
Christine: My husband has his own company, so this organisation has become my full-time job – it is my passion! I oversee the entire outfit, although I have a very good team and everyone knows what they are in charge of. I have nine full-time permanent staff, and 3,400 volunteers! When we first started, our pioneer batch had 300 volunteers. It was never our intention to increase the pool of volunteers tenfold – it just happened. How can you say “no” when people are so generous and want to help? I always tell my team that we have the best job in the world.

How long did it take you to get the organisation up and running?
Christine: Actually, you’d be surprised. The time it took to set up the entire organisation was only three months. The bread programme is almost running by itself now. It can continue as long as there are donors and volunteers to collect the bread. Other programmes, like those that distribute food to needy families, need more effort and work. But I have a very good team, and everyone pitches in to help.

Tell us more about your volunteers.
Christine: We have all kinds of volunteers from all walks of life. We have CEOs, freelancers, pilots from Singapore Airlines, and even tai-tais (women of leisure) who offer to send their drivers to pick up and deliver food. I never anticipated the volunteer response to be so good.

Are Singaporeans a compassionate bunch?
Henry: Oh yes, we like Singaporeans very much. If you tell them: “Look, we have this problem, can you help us?” – they will. We are very happy about this. Even the needy families are compassionate. We only provide the basics for them; we believe in giving people a step-up, and they appreciate and understand that.

Has the economic downturn affected daily operations?
Christine: Not really, but it is affecting us in terms of sponsorship. We already have to spend a lot on things like the warehousing and staffing, so we need someone to cover our overhead operating costs. We are a fully non-profit organisation, and we don’t get anything from the government; everything is privately funded.

What are some of the proudest moments you’ve experienced?
Henry: Well sometimes, schools [we work with] will hold luncheons or functions and they will invite us. When we get there, we meet the parents of the students we helped. Some of them even kissed my wife’s hand and thanked us. This is so touching.

Christine: This is what keeps us going – when you meet the families that are very down-and-out. Six years ago, the children were so thin and unhappy, but now, they have smiles on their faces. I’ve watched them grow up, just like they’ve watched my children grow up. There’s a real bond there between my family and the families that we’ve helped. That’s what makes me so proud.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Interested in volunteering or offering sponsorships for Food From The Heart’s Bread Programme? Find out more at www.foodheart.org

* This article was written by Redzman Rahmat and first published in Singapore Magazine (Jan-Mar 2010 issue).