Differentiating themselves in the F&B industry, PopeJai is a social enterprise that focuses on delivering its multitude of services “from the heart, for a cause”. Apart from actively hiring from eight of the most vulnerable groups in our community in their restaurants, they set up a community social arm, PopeJai Cares, to advocate for, reach out to and empower the marginalised.
As the virus worsened earlier this year, PopeJai Cares did just that for 200 low-income families. Anticipating that they would not be able to afford hygiene tools such as hand sanitisers, the #SGStrong Fund enabled the PopeJai team to deliver care packs filled with hand soaps and detailed instructions on how to best protect themselves against the virus.
Not stopping there, they also recognised that many of families might have been badly affected by the spiraling economy, especially those engaged in shift work and the service economy. As a business, PopeJai would have experienced first-hand how dire the situation was and continues to be. As such, they also include financial aid and job support information as well as a $50 meal subsidy voucher in their care packs.
“Ultimately we aim to promote unity within the community amongst those who are directly and indirectly impacted, by creating an ecosystem that enables our merchants and beneficiaries to support each other in the long-run.”
Unfortunately, their efforts have been temporarily halted due to the circuit breaker measures, but they will continue to support these families once the circuit breaker has been lifted. For a business that must be feeling the effects of closures and the “new normal”, their heart to serve the community could not be more inspiring. Together, we are indeed stronger than COVID-19.
Find out more about PopeJai’s work on their website and Facebook page.