Keeping Hope Alive is a welfare organisation that aims to provide less privileged Singaporeans with a better quality of life.

On Aug. 10, a volunteer named Lee Siew Yian wrote about her experience with an elderly couple in need.

The Facebook post has since been shared more than 600 times.

Empty floor

Lee was knocking on doors of HDB flats in Bendemeer Road on Aug. 8 evening.

An elderly woman opened the door at one of the units.

Lee then asked the woman if she needed a mattress.

The elderly woman first confirmed with Lee that the mattress was being given away for free.

As a way to assess the elderly woman's needs, Lee asked to enter the resident's house to see where the mattress could be placed.

That was when Lee realised that the woman had no mattress at all, and the floor was almost empty.

The elderly woman then explained that she sleeps on a thin "mattress" on the floor, which was made from a towel of sorts.

Her husband sleeps on a chair.

When Lee told the woman that she could give them a single-sized mattress and asked how many she would like, the beneficiary requested for only one mattress.

Lee noted two mattresses to be given to the elderly couple instead.

After the episode, Lee also wrote a short reflection on being a volunteer.

"We meet all kinds of people. There are good ones, bad ones, grateful ones and greedy ones. We can’t expect everyone to be nice, grateful or sing praises of us when we help them. We should have NO expectations that they will be able to do something in return. We should not allow the ‘bad or greedy’ ones to discourage us from doing good.

We just do what we can. We do what is within our power. We give from our heart. We count our blessings that we have something to offer."

You can read her original post here:

Top image via Lee Siew Yian/Facebook