‘He could never bear seeing people go hungry’: Founder of food charity Nizar Shariff dies at age 53

Mr Nizar Mohamed Shariff, the founder of local food charity Free Food For All (FFFA) that has provided food to over 144,000 beneficiaries, died on Tuesday. He was 53.

Mr Nizar, also known as ‘Big Bear’, started the charity in 2014 with the aim to provide not just food, but nutritious meals to needy families.

“Today, we bid farewell to our beloved founder, Mr Nizar, whose mission of providing free food for all touched countless lives,” said FFFA, in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Mr Nizar helped to establish free food initiatives for the needy, led community outreach programmes, while advocating social equality, inclusivity and environmental sustainability, the post added. He also cultivated compassion and empathy in the community.

Speaking to The Straits Times, Mr Shaik Mohamed Ammar, the youngest of Mr Nizar’s four children, said that the charity was like his father’s fifth child.

“My father went from being able to walk and drive to being wheelchair bound and then bedridden,” the 21-year-old said. “But even then, he always made the charity a priority because he always said that there are people who need his help, and if not him, who else?”

Mr Ammar, who is now the head of operations at FFFA, was only 12 when Mr Nizar founded the charity, and at that age, he could not yet understand the importance it held.

“Only much later was I able to see how many lives my father impacted and how important he was to the society, he really played an integral part,” said Mr Ammar.

Mr Nizar had been suffering from diabetes and kidney failure in recent years.

However, his poor health did not stop Mr Nizar from helping others, said Mr Mohamad Faiz Selamat, 45, who has been a volunteer with FFFA since 2014.

Mr Faiz had first partnered up with Mr Nizar after hearing about his efforts in handing out food at various HDB blocks and a mosque in Eunos. At the time, Mr Nizar ran this initiative independently, funding the food items by himself.

“To Mr Nizar, it was just the simple act of giving,” said Mr Faiz. “He could never bear seeing people go hungry.”

Mr Faiz recounted instances when the pair were having meals at hawker centres and Mr Nizar would always look out for people who needed food.

“That’s just the kind of person he was, really about serving other people,” said Mr Faiz.

Tributes for Mr Nizar have started pouring in on Facebook, from friends and past charities he had worked with.

Mr Abraham Yeo, co-founder of charity organisation Homeless Hearts of Singapore, said that he remembers Mr Nizar calling him with an idea to open a safe shelter for people who often face rejection from society.

Mr Yeo said: “He leaves behind a great legacy for his family and for us as a community.”

Homecare service SG Assist also wrote a tribute for Mr Nizar in a post, saying: “Every time we reached out, needing assistance for the beneficiaries we served, Mr Nizar was the first to respond, always eager and always generous.”

“Without thinking twice, he would be there for them in any way or form he was needed.”

Former Sembawang MP Amrin Amin wrote in a post on Tuesday: “Just 4 days ago, he shared about how he managed to get a water truck to give out 3,000 litres of water to Gaza. Nizar humbly described this effort as a ‘drop in an ocean’.”

Mr Amrin added that Mr Nizar was someone who was “always full of ideas”, and an “imaginative thinker and doer.”

“You’ve done a great deal, dear Nizar. Thank you for the inspiration,” said Mr Amrin.

FFFA will be now be run by Mr Ammar, who said: “The charity cannot afford to stop, as there are people counting on us.

“I will try my best and hardest to continue this, it is what he wanted, it was his last wish.”

Mr Nizar was one of the finalists of The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2018. He also won the President’s Volunteerism & Philanthropic Awards’ People of Good Category in 2020.