vCares Issue 3 - On a Mission for the Community

www.carecorner.org.sg vCares Newsletter Issue 3

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On a Mission for the Community A look into community building volunteer roles

If you were to ever step foot into Care Corner – Teck Ghee

Youth Centre, you will realise that it is a bustling hub of

activities; not just for the youths, but also for the

surrounding community as well. The centre seeks not only

to offer programmes and services to develop confident,

competent and compassionate youths, it also hopes to

support their families and the larger community they are

in. In the second quarter of this year, the centre

embarked on two meaningful projects, in a bid to reach

out to the community and stay relevant to address real

and pertinent social needs.

One such project is a Community Blessing event, jointly organized with OCBC Bank. Over the span of

two weeks, OCBC volunteers visited the centre and conducted activities with children from

Evergreen Bees Mentoring Programme. They then packed the blessings pack and went house-to-

house with the children to bless needy families. Each food blessing pack consisted of necessities such

as rice, chocolate malt beverage, various canned food and a recycling bag. It was indeed an

impactful project as it not only blessed

the needy families, it also helped to teach

the Evergreen Bees children about

compassion and how they can express it

by paying it forward. In the end, the

blessings were delivered to some 300

households. We thank OCBC for their kind

sponsorship of the blessing packs and

being role models to the Evergreen Bees

children.

In another project, we partnered 88

volunteers from Nanyang Technological

University and an online Meetup

volunteering group, Care (In) Action (CIA),

to reach out to close to 2000 households

in Ang Mo Kio. In ensuring we are in the

forefront to meet our community’s needs,

we needed to constantly keep ourselves

updated of its needs, so as to continue

http://carecorner.org.sg/tgyc.html


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offering appropriate services and programmes. Thus, equipped with survey forms, volunteers spent

their weekday evening going house-to-house to collect these valuable insights.

At first, we were concerned that not many volunteers would be keen to sign up for this role, as it is

not direct work with beneficiaries. But yet, we believe that like-minded volunteers will come on

board to help us reach out to the wider community.

Anne Low, a volunteer from CIA, shared her reflection, “It's a different kind of experience from the

usual volunteering that I do. But it got me thinking and I have come to realise that volunteering

comes in all shapes and sizes. Besides visiting homes or cleaning house of old folks, you are indeed

volunteering as long as what you do is for a good cause and improves the lives of others who need

it.”

I had the opportunity to also join the volunteers and soon realised that it was really a feat. The

project required courage and perseverance as we knocked on doors and took to the stairs. It

required rapport building skills and questioning skills. It also required “strategizing” skills as the

blocks had different layout and hence we needed to plan how we would “conquer” the block.

Through the whole experience, I learnt a valuable lesson of “not judging a book by its cover”;

despite seemingly not welcomed at first, most residents soon opened up to share insights with us

once we built rapport with them. All we needed to do was to focus on the task at hand and smile

because we know what we were doing is meaningful.


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Although it was tiring, especially after a long day’s work, it was indeed personally satisfying to

connect with the residents and also share with them the work of the centre. Some of the residents

are also actively serving in the grassroots and were thus able to shed some light on the issues faced

by the community. Some residents also had children who benefitted from the services of the centre

in the past.

Anne relates her experience, “When the residents got to know that we are doing these house calls

as volunteers, it touched them too and some also expressed their interests in helping out in the

community. I believe that we will be able to see more familiar faces helping out in the community”.

As we drew our survey to a close and wiped the perspiration off our heads, we gladly handed over

the findings to the Social Workers and believe that it will be valuable insights in supporting the

community.

Here are some reflections from some of the volunteers:

"It was a humbling experience interacting first hand with residents of the community. From their

responses, it is apparent that there is much that volunteers can do to alleviate problems within the

area, as well as to improve the environment for its residents. I truly hope that our efforts have

contributed to the discovery of the residents' needs, and that more willing volunteers will join us in

our journey to make this community a more cohesive one." --- Wong Wei De, NTU Volunteer

"I believe that there will always be gaps… and I am glad to be a part of Teck Ghee Youth Centre's

mission to bridge these gaps, so as to better reach out to those who might be neglected. It is

heartening to see many youths stepping up to give back to the community that they grew up in, and

this I feel will be the start of a virtuous cycle - in maintaining a closely knitted community that we

have come to call home." --- Kua Wei Qi Wendy, NTU Volunteer

We thank NTU and CIA volunteers for offering their weekday evenings for such a worthy cause.

Indeed, more hands make the work light and in this case, our volunteers help us to extend our reach

to the community and ensure that help can reach the wider community. Mission accomplished!


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To learn more about other volunteering opportunities in Care Corner Singapore, please visit

http://tiny.cc/ccsvolunteer. You are also welcome to jointly organize a community blessing event

with us by dropping an email to [email protected].

Article by: James Lim

Photography by Volunteer Photographer: C.W. Ho

Translated by Volunteer Translator: Tan Kheng Meng

“ I have always been encouraged reading Care Corner’s Volunteer

Cares Newsletter; it contains many wonderful and meaningful stories

of how volunteers make a difference. These stories, written by

editorial volunteers themselves, have always encouraged me and it is

also with this that I have taken my first steps to being a volunteer.

I have recently retired from an editorial role. Due to health reasons, I

am unable to render services in the direct service, such as

befriending the seniors or volunteering with youths in making a difference for the community.

However, just as some volunteers had aptly remarked, serving the community can indeed take

many forms and this encouraged me to take to step to be a translation volunteer with Care

Corner. I hope to be able to use my editorial experience and skills to help extend the reach of the

exciting stories of the work of Care Corner’s volunteers. By translating them into Chinese, I hope

http://tiny.cc/ccsvolunteer

mailto:[email protected]


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more will come to know the work and mission of Care Corner; I hope to extend the reach of

these powerful stories to small and medium enterprises, Chinese businesses, clans, shops and

communities. It is hoped that my little effort will be a spark in helping others consider making a

difference too, by serving as a volunteer; serving the needy alongside the charities.

I hope that these articles will help our readers be better acquainted with the volunteers’ labour of

love for the community.

”


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我们建设社区的任务更了解义工建设社区的角色

只要一踏进关怀 - 德义青少年中心，您会

发现那是个非常热闹活跃的活动中心，不只有

为青少年而设的服务，也有照顾周围社区的服

务。中心不只为青少年提供培养信心、能干和

同理心的发展项目和服务，也希望支持他们的

家庭，并在更大的层次上，支持他们所在的社

区。

今年第二季，中心开展了两项希望能帮

到社区的有意义计划，以更实际和贴切的与时

并进方式协助解决社会需求。其中一项是跟华侨银行合办的社区赐福活动。华

侨银行的员工利用两个星期的时间，到中心里为参与 Evergreen Bees 启导计划

的孩童们组办活动，过后和孩子们一起包装福袋，并挨家挨户为有需要的家庭

送上。食物福袋包括了白米、巧

克力麦芽饮料、各种罐头食品和

环保袋。这确是个非常有意义的

活动，不只使有需要的家庭受惠，

也协助培养 Evergreen Bees 孩子

们的怜悯心，并让他们在亲身体

验中体现出来。总共有 300 多户

家庭受惠。我们衷心感谢华侨银

行慷慨赞助福袋及他们的员工为

Evergreen Bees 的孩子们立下行

为楷模。

我们的另一项计划是联合

了南洋理工大学和网上联系

（Meetup）义工组织 Care (in)

Action（简称 CIA）的 88 名义工，接触宏茂桥 2000 户家庭。为确保满足社区需




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求的工作与时并进，我们必须掌握有需要家庭的最新需求，这样才能继续为他

们提供更适合的服务和计划。因此，义工们拨出个人时间，每天晚上放工下课

后带着调查问卷，沿门挨户向这些家庭收集他们宝贵的“内心话”。

最初，我们担心这项工作因为和没有与受惠者接触的机会，不会有太多

义工响应。但我们还是坚信，志同道合的义工还是会挺身协助我们去接触广大

的社区民众。

来自 CIA 的义工 Anne Low 分享了她的想法：“这和我通常所当义工的形式

很不一样。但我思考了一阵子，领悟到义务服务种类多，不只一个模式。探访

收容所或为老人家清扫住居外，只要你所做的是善举，并使有需要的人生活改

进了，你就也是在当义工。”

我也有幸加入了这群义工的工作，确实见识了他们的“壮举”。在一层楼一

层楼挨家挨户敲门时，勇气和毅力不可少。我们也必须懂得和居民打交道和提

问的技巧，并掌握应付每座组屋不同楼面设计的策略窍门，做好规划以“征服”

整座组屋的功课。

在整个过程中，我学到了“人不可貌相”的宝贵经验。有些居民开门时的最

初反应会让人觉得不受欢迎，但只要跟他们熟络起来，他们也很快就打开话匣

子，愿意分享他们的看法。我们只需要专注于手头上的工作和保持微笑，因为

我们知道我们做的是非常有意义的事。


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虽然这个工作让人疲累，尤其是在漫长的一天工作后，但能跟居民接触，

并和他们分享中心的服务，确也让我们有个人满足感。一些居民也活跃于基层

组织活动，因此也能向我们指出社区所面对的问题。也有居民的孩子，曾经受

益于中心的服务。

Anne 就这么说：“居民得知我们以义工身份登门家访时，他们被感动。一

些居民还表示了帮助社区的兴趣。我相信我们将会看到更多熟悉的脸孔为社区

服务。”

完成家访问卷调查后，我们把调查结果移交给社工。我们相信这些宝贵

的反馈资料将有助于协助社区。

以下是一些义工的反映：

南洋理工大学义工 Wong Wei De：“跟社区居民面对面交流，让我自觉有

一种谦卑的经历。从居民的反应，显然的在缓解区内问题和改善居民的生活环

境方面，义工确实还能扮演更大的角色。我真心希望，我们的努力能协助找出

居民的所需，而且会有更多义工加入我们的行列，使社区更具凝聚力。”


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南洋理工大学义工 Kua Wei Qi Wendy：“我认为差距总是会有的……….我很

高兴我有机会参与德义青少年中心为这些差距搭桥的任务，以便更好的接触那

些可能被忽略的一群。让人感到鼓舞的是，有越来越多青年挺身而出，回馈他

们在那里成长的社区。我觉得这是个良性循环的开始，以维持一个紧密的社区，

一个我们称为家园的社区。”

我们衷心感谢南洋理工大学和 CIA 义工们为这个有意义的善举，牺牲了平

日的晚上时间。说真的，更多帮手，让工作减轻了许多。以这个活动来说，我

们的义工帮助了我们扩大对社区的接触，确保更多居民能获得帮助。我们完成

了任务！

想了解关怀机构的其他义务服务项目，请您浏览

http://tiny.cc/ccsvolunteer 网页。我们也欢迎您跟我们联办社区关怀活动，您可

以电邮我们，邮址是 [email protected].

作者：James Lim

义务摄影：C.W.Ho

义务翻译：陈天明

http://tiny.cc/ccsvolunteer

mailto:邮址是[email protected]


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“

关怀机构的义工会讯《Volunteer Cares》经常有

非常精彩的文章，由一群义工义务撰写，把志愿服务的

精神和故事跟社会大众分享，这让我很感动，也踏出了

我当义工的第一步。

我刚从文化机构退休，由于健康关系，我无法实

际参与前线义工服务诸如和老人家聊天，或与青少年一

起服务社区的活动。

正如一些关怀机构的义工所说，服务社会不拘形

式，这鼓舞了我贡献英译中的信心，希望借助过去在文化企业的一点小专长，

把关怀机构的义工会讯《Volunteer Cares》中的精彩故事、要向社会大众传达

的信息，翻译成中文，让更多人可以认识及了解关怀机构服务社会大众的宗旨

和使命，也把关怀机构的触角伸展到中小型企业、华商组织、宗乡团体，及邻

里商店和居民社区，鼓励他们也从各自的能力范围和途径，去协助福利慈善团

体为有需要的社会群体服务。

我希望我的翻译，也能让中文读者读到精彩的关怀社会文章。 ”

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vCares Issue 3 - On a Mission for the Community