TO MARK the festive season, 35 cabbies from ComfortDelGro will be delivering food hampers to 1,000 families, courtesy of the Boys' Brigade Sharity Gift Box project.

On the first day of delivery yesterday, 25 cabbies, together with the boys from The Boys' Brigade and 24 Team Singapore athletes, made their rounds in Bedok, Changi and Telok Blangah.

They gave out food hampers containing items like canned food, cooking oil, rice and biscuits to about 100 recipients on public assistance, many of whom are elderly and live alone in one-room flats.

The food is expected to last six months for each family.

The taxi drivers are part of the 100-strong CabbyCare Charity Group, which does work in the community such as delivering bread to welfare homes and ferrying meals to the needy. Their deliveries for the Sharity Gift Box project will run through Dec 30.

The charity drive, now in its 21st year, is aiming to provide 28,000 needy people with food, diapers and toys this year. But

it has raised only 40 per cent of the items it needs and is especially short on food.

The shortfall is a product of the economic downturn, said Boys' Brigade executive director Desmond Koh.

Members of the public have time until Friday to drop off non-perishable

food items at the main box located at the Orchard Pedestrian Mall outside Takashimaya Shopping Centre or at any of the 14 other boxes at various NTUC FairPrice outlets.

For more details, call the Sharity hotline on 1800-742-7489 (1800-SHARITY).

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 17, 2008.

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