--- title: "‘We survived on bread for 2 weeks’: Mum, 28, now gives out free groceries despite still struggling financially" url: "/community-voices/we-survived-bread-2-weeks-mum-28-now-gives-out-free-groceries-despite-still-struggling-financially" published: "2026-10-21T09:22:46.000Z" updated: "2026-10-21T09:22:46.000Z" section: "Community Voices" authors: ["Syazana Hishamuddin"] tags: ["needy","charity","kindness","groceries","TNP News","family"] --- # ‘We survived on bread for 2 weeks’: Mum, 28, now gives out free groceries despite still struggling financially Just a year after hitting rock bottom, a mum of two is determined to make sure no other family goes through what hers did. Speaking to Stomp, Sri Nur Ilyia Izzuwanna Othman, who goes by Anna, said she and her husband struggled to put food on the table in 2025, when their income from adhoc jobs was barely enough to get by. “At that point of time our income wasn’t good,” she shared. “We didn’t have enough money to buy groceries for the family.” Although she admits that their financial situation remains “up and down”, Anna is determined to help others through her initiative, Rezeki Bergerak — Malay for ‘blessings on the move’. Thanks to contributions from the public, Anna and her family would purchase groceries and decide on a suitable location each month to distribute them to residents in need. Through this initiative, she hopes to show her children the importance of giving back to the community, even when they have little themselves. “When we went through it, we were very quiet. We were struggling on our own,” she shared. “We don’t know if other people are going through the same thing.” ## ‘We don’t come from a rich family’ A stay-at-home mum, Anna, 28, turned to livestreaming to supplement the family’s income, while her husband, Muhd Zafri Puteh, also 28, works as a delivery driver. “We don’t come from a rich family. Whatever we earn is literally (the) money we have. There’s (even) one point where we didn’t have jobs,” she said. Anna shared that she initially had little success with livestreaming — sometimes resulting in zero sales — and struggled to “pay for a lot of things”. “The only thing that we could afford was bread. We were only surviving on bread for two weeks,” she said, her eyes downcast. Desperate to improve their situation, Anna tried changing up her inventory and selling different products during her livestreams to boost sales. She also started a candy wheel business, setting up elaborate displays at weddings and birthday parties. Even so, she did not wait until her family was more financially stable before finding ways to help others. ## Started initiative just weeks after giving birth Anna had just given birth to her son, Ayraaz Sofhian, when she and her husband hosted the first round of distributions in September. “I’ve always wanted to do something where we can give back, and after giving birth I just felt like I didn’t want to wait too long to start,” she said. The couple had planned to contribute some of their own money, but decided to do a call on social media to invite others to chip in. They posted a grocery list showing the prices of individual items and soon received enough contributions to purchase groceries in bulk from a nearby supermarket. Anna and Zafri held their first distribution at Mei Ling Street, not expecting the response to be “so good” as residents approached them in batches throughout the day. At their next distribution, held at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6, the couple were shocked to find a queue had already formed even before they arrived. ![low income family rezeki bergerak groceries distributions](https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/stomp/37e0d08688746c446df474accf16f6e8df13d8994931a6d765aa1e634af87b71) *Residents queuing for the distribution on Oct 15.* Word of their initiative had spread quickly, with many sharing Anna’s videos on social media with others who might need help. During every distribution, each person is allowed to take a maximum of 10 items “to be fair to the rest”. The van is stocked with groceries such as canned food, breakfast staples, dried goods, baby formula and even diapers. When Stomp joined the distribution on Oct 15, residents were lined up neatly behind the van, waiting for their turn to choose the items they needed. Asked if anyone had ever tried to take more than the permitted number of items, Anna shook her head. In fact, some have even taken less. “There was one kid who came down to collect, but the first thing he wanted was the baby diapers,” she shared. “I asked him, ‘Is there anything else you want to take?’ and he said, ‘No, I only want the baby diapers because my baby sister don’t have any diapers at home anymore’. I was very emotional after that.” ![low income family rezeki bergerak groceries distributions](https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/stomp/ef32fa83a8f867097a150c746ae41e58691f977913dcb0d16d8208939869d760) *Anna’s husband Zafri, helping residents choose the household pantry items they need.* Throughout the interview, Anna paused occasionally to say goodbye to residents, having already formed a warm community around the initiative in just over a month. “Doing this (doesn’t mean) we are earning very good. We are still a low income family,” she said, bouncing her two-month-old on her lap. “We are still doing our best lah.” ## Being an example for the kids What keeps Anna and her husband going is their children. Looking back on their struggles a year ago, Anna is especially grateful for how her four-year-old daughter, Ayra Sofhia, showed maturity far beyond her years. “We don’t tell her that we don’t have money. We make sure that she has something to eat, even if it’s bread,” she said, choking up. ![low income family rezeki bergerak groceries distributions](https://cassette.sphdigital.com.sg/image/stomp/312b448f34381633b22eba2bde734ce777e5373f215265c1255785f236d3f7f5) *Anna was emotional when recalling her darkest moments last year.* “There’s moments where I cry, but she’s the one who came up to me (saying), ‘Ami, don’t cry. I’m here. I understand.’” Anna admitted that she and Zafri often broke down during that difficult period, trying to figure out ways to earn enough to get by. Improving their circumstances, she said, was not something that could happen “overnight”. Although young Ayra has not yet fully grasped the reason why her parents give out groceries to strangers, she has shown curiosity. “She asked me, ‘Why you give people all this food?’ Then I just say to her, ‘Because people sometimes need it but we don’t know. So we help.’” For now, Anna and her husband hope to continue Rezeki Bergerak regularly, for as long as they can. They also welcome organisations interested in collaborating with them to help the initiative grow. “I just want to help everyone.”