A soup kitchen in Little India Singapore has called for its volunteers to step up and take their volunteering responsibilities seriously after they apparently keep pulling no-shows on the establishment.

Krsnas Free Meals, located at 20 Veerasamy Road, serves free vegetarian meals daily to migrant workers and others in need.

The kitchen is mainly run by its co-founders and volunteers.

Pattern of volunteers signing up in groups but not attending

In a TikTok, the kitchen said it has had many volunteers sign up, particularly in groups.

However, it also highlighted that when one person in the group cannot make it, the entire group does not turn up for duties.

"We cannot serve meals without our wonderful volunteers but we are noticing a disturbing trend," the caption in the video said.

The kitchen serves 2,500 meals per day.

It added that it does not get informed when such groups fail to show up without notice: "Nobody tells us. We're at the kitchen in the morning expecting a whole crew but nobody's there!"

Responding to a comment, Krsna's Free Meals said it accepts volunteers in groups, as such groups tend to "have a good time volunteering together" when they come.

At the end of the video, it advised volunteers to refrain from being absent abruptly and without satisfactory notice.

@krsnasfreemeal We cannot serve meals without our wonderful volunteers but we are noticing a disturbing trend - many people sign up and then don’t come without canceling in advance. The problem is worse when friends sign up together. If one friend has to cancel, the whole group often doesnt come without telling us. So guys - please let us know if you will not be coming! 2500 meal recipients - and we - depend on you! #volunteer #soupkitchen #fyp #krsnasfreemeals #vegetarian #migrantworkers #community #singapore #showup ♬ original sound - Krsna’s Free Meals

"It can be debilitating"

In response to Mothership queries, the kitchen's advisor, Aparna Dubey, said that it is a challenge to operate the kitchen with many volunteers backing out without notice.

Volunteer slots are split into two shifts, 6:30am to 9:30am for the breakfast service and 9:30am to 2:30pm for the lunch service.

Dubey said the kitchen requires a total of 20 people daily to operate, including at least 15 volunteers.

She added that the pattern of volunteers not turning up for their duties has been observed since January 2024.

This occurs for at least half of the duties each week, she noted.

She said: "It can be debilitating in fact, as it slows down the functioning of our operations, although those who are there rise to the challenges as best as they can and very well."

Deploys other regular volunteers for extra help

When volunteers do cancel with enough notice, the kitchen reaches out to its regular volunteers for extra help.

"Those that can often drop their plans to help us, for which we are extremely grateful," Dubey said.

Patrons may arrive as early as 6am to collect food even though the kitchen opens at 6:30am.

Dubey added that it's challenging since the kitchen does not wish to make beneficiaries wait as many of them have to report to work.

"We want to give them a fresh meal so that they can do their work well and have a little joy in their day with our homestyle meals," she said.

Top photos via Krsna's Free Meals/Facebook & TikTok