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26 November 2018
- From 27 November 2018, Deliveroo will kickstart a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in Singapore with not-for-profit charity, TOUCH Community Services.
From 27 November 2018, Deliveroo will kickstart a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in Singapore with not-for-profit charity, TOUCH Community Services. The charity has been helping children, youths, families, people with special and healthcare needs and the elderly since 1992. Over the course of six months, Deliveroo riders will deliver meals to homebound elderly beneficiaries under TOUCH's Meals-On-Wheels programme, a meal delivery service which meets beneficiaries' daily dietary needs.
As Deliveroo celebrates its third birthday in Singapore, it is looking to ramp up its national efforts, working with riders and restaurants, to support local communities and people in need. The TOUCH partnership is the longest commitment Deliveroo has made to a charity organisation in Singapore, and the company will assess its success to see how this can be built upon in 2019.
What the partnership will entail
The elderly beneficiaries of Meals-On-Wheels, most of whom live alone, are often unable to prepare their own meals and thus rely on TOUCH volunteers to deliver food every day. The meals are prepared by TOUCH's partner caterers to accommodate over 24 dietary requirements for the recipients.
Deliveroo will commit two riders every Tuesday to pick up meals from TOUCH's collection points, then deliver them to the charity's beneficiary list in Toh Guan or Jurong West. These neighbourhoods were chosen because they are most in need of volunteers on a day-to-day basis.
Deliveroo's two volunteer riders for the six-month commitment have been selected for their familiarity with delivering in those areas to maximise efficiency. The riders have been fully briefed and trained by TOUCH for these deliveries. Deliveries will be with Deliveroo's delivery bags to store the meals safely. The programme will see approximately 520 meals delivered to up to 40 beneficiaries over the six months.
Raising awareness for good
"It is easy to forget that there is a growing segment in society who lack the means to access their daily meals. TOUCH's Meals-On-Wheels programme is an ideal partnership for Deliveroo, as we wanted to partner with a charity that would offer a direct impact to local Singaporeans. As a company, we want to use our 6,000-strong rider network to give back to the communities we operate in, and this is a great opportunity for our riders who want to be a force for good however they can," said Siddharth Shanker, General Manager of Deliveroo Singapore, on the initiative.
"Volunteers are key to Meals-On-Wheels as we rely on them to deliver meals to our elderly every day, 365 days a year. We are glad that Deliveroo is working with TOUCH and mobilising their team of riders for a special cause. For many of our elderly who are homebound, these volunteers could be their only source of social contact. We hope the volunteer riders will find this experience rewarding as they put a smile on the faces of our elderly," said Sam Ngeow, TOUCH Home Care's Centre Manager (Jurong).
The food delivery firm will be assessing the TOUCH initiative's potential for a partnership extension by looking at its effectiveness and impact over the next six months. Other CSR initiatives by Deliveroo include an in-app feature—launched in June this year—that allows customers to opt out of plastic cutlery delivered with their orders in order to reduce plastic waste.
