The owner of St George’s Rd Post Office and Milk Bar says his weekly food donations to the local primary school are just the start of his plan to help people in need.
Kamal Deep Singh and his wife Jasbinder Kaur have donated three loaves of bread and $40 to buy fresh fruit to St George’s Rd Primary School for the past six months.
They started giving to the school after the Victorian Government axed its fruit in schools program last year.
‘‘I just want to help people, especially kids,’’ Mr Singh said.
‘‘If you don’t have a good breakfast, you can’t study well, so that’s why we started that.’’
School staffer Kaye Martino said the couple’s generosity was ‘‘absolutely fantastic’’.
‘‘They give us three loaves of bread a week, so we can make up sandwiches for kids who forget their breakfast or lunch,’’ Mrs Martino said.
‘‘They also donate money, which goes to buying fruit for the children, and we keep it in the office so the kids can have a piece for recess or lunch.’’
Mrs Martino said Kamal and Jasbinder were ‘‘fantastic, lovely people’’.
Mr Singh now wants to start a free breakfast service for people in need, at the front of his milk bar.
‘‘I want to start something like a soup kitchen for homeless kids, or people in need who haven’t eaten breakfast,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m just thinking about it at the moment, but if council allows it, I want to have it outside the milk bar.’’
Mr Singh said he already had the equipment, such as a fridge and food warmers, to get the initiative started. The father of two said his keeness to help the community was partly due to his religion, Sikhism.
‘‘In our temple, the food is free. We never charge for anything. We have a tradition called ‘langar’ where we provide for people without discrimination,’’ he said.
‘‘We also donate 10 per cent of our income to people in need.’’
Mr Singh said if his idea got up and running, he would appreciate some volunteers to help serve the food.
If you would like to help, phone the milk bar on 58218772.
Source: Shepparton News