Private hire drivers, whose livelihoods have been affected by the coronavirus slowdown, will be able to grab a free lunch in between trips on Saturday (April 4) at Zion Serangoon Bible Presbyterian Church.

From 11.30am to 2pm, the church will be cooking and giving out 100 hot bento sets in a drive-through at its premises at Tavistock Avenue, which is located near Serangoon Gardens.

An online flyer announcing the drive-through on April 4. Photo courtesy of Zion Serangoon Bible Presbyterian Church.

Elder Wendell Chua, who is overseeing the initiative, told Salt&Light that the church decided to focus efforts on helping private hire drivers because they have been one of the “most adversely affected, financially and emotionally” by the pandemic.

If this Saturday’s drive through is well-received, the church hopes to cook and give out 1,000 more meals to private hire drivers in the coming weeks, he added.

Practical love and care

The idea to do something for the community came about after some church members realised that the busyness of keeping up with new measures had caused the church to “take our eye off our mission, which is always about reaching outwards and sharing the light and blessing of Christ with others”, said Elder Chua.

“As we got more and more busy with ourselves, it suddenly occurred to some of us that we’ve become even more inward-looking than before.

“This realisation made us sit up and think really hard about what we needed to do in order to plug back in to God’s mission, especially during a time like this where many are suffering and in need of practical love and care.”

In particular, it was Galatians 6:10a, which exhorts believers to do good as we have the opportunity, that motivated the church to help those in need, he said.

During the drive-through, the church will be adopting precautionary measures such as temperature screening and recording of vehicle numbers.

Only eight to nine volunteers will be involved in the drive-through, said Elder Chua, in line with the government’s guidelines of 10 or less in a group. They will also don masks and gloves.

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