The Red Nose movement seeks to bring the community together through food, hugs and bicycle rides.
The Johnson Tang, a Korean army stew, is a unique menu item of the Red Dish food program.
Come August, patrons will be able to decide how much they want to pay for their meal—or work for their meal’s worth by doing tasks or running errands.
Organized by the Red Nose movement, the Red Dish food program eschews the usual payment method, giving diners a choice to pay for their meal in cash or to perform an hour of voluntary work for every meal they order.
“We know that there will be people in the community who can’t afford their meals. We want them to come, enjoy their meal and use their skills to ‘pay’ for their meal,” said Knik Pang, project director of Red Nose. “Everyone has a skill that can help another person. For example, a stay-home mom may have financial challenges, but she can help to babysit for a working mom. Basically, we don’t want to give a handout but we want people to know that they can still contribute to their community despite their financial challenges.”
The program will be held at POD, a community space in Tampines. But the food is just the medium; the vision is to provide a platform for people who need help in the community to interact. “Food is always a challenge for people with financial difficulties,” says Pang. “We hope to create opportunities for the community to take ownership of its problems; to find out each other’s needs and, hopefully, leverage resources among themselves to meet these needs.”
A Taiwanese student group support the program at a food tasting.
Red Dish is one of the many programs started by the Red Nose, a new initiative by City Harvest Community Services Association to promote better living through experiencing more love and laughter.
Besides typical fare, Red Dish will also feature the Johnson Tang, a Korean army stew. All proceeds from this dish will go to supporting the food program.
The Red Dish pilot project will start on Aug. 1. Red Nose aims to instill the food program as a permanent project at POD (Blk 316 Tampines Street 33). Helping hands are welcome!
Visit rednose.sg or the booth outside Suntec Singapore Hall 603 for more information.
