vcares issue 6 - the gift for ties

www.carecorner.org.sg vCares Newsletter Issue 6

This publication is made possible by our volunteers

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The Gift of Ties Catch a glimpse how volunteers bring a valuable gift of ties to our beneficiaries and their families.

Christmas celebrations came early for some beneficiaries at

Care Corner Family Service Centre (Tampines). On 4

December, close to 50 beneficiaries and their families were

treated to a Christmas celebration by staff and volunteers of

the Family Service Centre (FSC). And everyone went home

with a valuable gift; the gift of ties.

Planning for the Christmas celebration commenced one and

a half months earlier, as volunteer leaders from an online

Meetup group, Care (In) Action (or CIA in short), met with

the FSC staff to plan the party together. It was to be a simple

Christmas celebration, but one which would help the

beneficiaries bond with their families and for the

caseworkers to bond with their beneficiaries.

The CIA volunteers quickly got down to the drawing board;

together with the FSC staff, they conceptualized an evening

of fun and games. Some of the CIA volunteers also offered their skills in making the celebration a joyous

one. One such volunteer is Cun Yang, who offered his technical skills in making the Buzz Wire prop for the

“Touch Me Not” booth and Serene, who offered her balloon

sculpting skills in making wonderful balloon masterpieces,

much to the delight of the little ones. Other volunteers such

as Anne and Denzel played critical roles in helping to recruit

and coordinate the assignments of the volunteers. Some of

the volunteers also went the extra mile; helping the staff to

research and source for reasonably priced logistics, working

into the night on the props needed for the activity booths

and helping to connect us with other volunteers to help

with the performances and balloon sculpting.

The festivities started at about 7pm, with the FSC

caseworkers welcoming their guests and having dinner with

them. They then brought them to the various booths for



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some fun and games. Families were encouraged to, as a family,

complete tasks at 4 of the activity booths, namely, “Touch Me

Not”, “Balloon Shaving”, “Tinkle Winkle” and “Christmas

Charades”. Upon successful completion of the games, they

exchanged their score cards for a gift pack for the whole family.

Besides the game stalls, children were also treated to popcorn,

cotton candy and balloon sculpting. Adults and children alike

could also use their creative juices to make Christmas cards for

one another, get some cute body art painted and also get a wacky

photo shoot at the photo booths.

Judging from the smiles and the occasional shouts of excitement,

it was evident that everyone was able to let their hair down and

had a great time. And to top off all the fun and games, volunteers

and staff also put together several performance items, such as

Latin dances and Christmas Carols, to entertain all our guests. During the performances, our guests were

also encouraged to join along the sing-a-long and they shook their keys in unison, to the tune of Jingle

Bells.

It has indeed been a wonderful evening. We can see people

bonding and closer ties were forged within our guests’

families, between caseworkers and their beneficiaries,

between our volunteers and between the centre and the

community.

Mr Christopher Chiam, Assistant Director, Care Corner FSC

(Tampines) also expressed how he was impressed with the

way the project was carried out: "I am pleasantly impressed

by the CIA team's commitments, accountability and passion

of wanting to bless the needy families".

“It was indeed heartening to see such a great partnership

between Care Corner and our community. It’s really

amazing how people from all walks of life, and who may not

know each other prior to the event, can come alongside to

make such a difference. And the successful Christmas party

planned with CIA attests to the wonderful and meaningful



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partnership that charities can have, with

volunteers and the community, in reaching out

to more and doing more,” says James Lim, Care

Corner’s Manager for Volunteer Development

and Partnerships.

Such a sentiment was also echoed by Ms

Jacklyn Chua, Care Corner’s Assistant

Programme Executive, who was the staff in-

charge of putting together the party. “It has

been a wonderful experience for me to work

with volunteers from CIA. Their ICs, Anne,

Denzel and Cun Yang are some of the most

dedicated volunteers I've ever met. Their zeal

and enthusiasm is so evident in how their

tirelessly coordinated the close to 30

volunteers and how they all worked to ensure

the programme was successfully executed.

They showed great ownership of the roles they

played and took good care of our beneficiaries. What a privilege it has been to be able to work alongside

these volunteers from CIA,” said Jacklyn.

Our volunteers from CIA also shared their thoughts on

participating in this Christmas party:

“Happiness to me is about being able to give and help the less

fortunate people among us, without expecting anything in return.

Besides the joy of being part of this event, I have also seen family

bonding and excellent teamwork during the event,” shared Crystal

Tan, CIA volunteer.

Denzel, a CIA volunteer leader remarked: “Volunteering is a social

responsibility; good intentions are a good start and with the right

attitude to volunteering, it makes all the difference for us and the

beneficiaries we serve. I am glad to have been able to work

alongside this team of volunteers, who made the event such a fun

one to be a part of.”



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“With Christmas around the corner, it’s really meaningful for me to

volunteer and spread joy and good cheer to others. The experience

is quite enjoyable as we work with the friendly staff and fellow

volunteers for the Christmas Party.

I will strongly encourage people to volunteer; not only will you get to

spend your free time meaningfully, the reward of seeing the smiles

on the beneficiaries’ faces is simply fulfilling,” said Ms Carol Lim, CIA

volunteers.

“Helping others brings double portion of joy; to others and

myself,” shared Julia Fong, CIA volunteer.

Care Corner Singapore thanks all the volunteers who have

made this evening a success.

For more information on how you can volunteer, please visit

Care Corner’s volunteer page at

http://www.carecorner.org.sg/volunteer.html.

Chinese article translated by our friendly volunteer translator Hong Si Min 孔思敏:

“ My short stint as a journalist opened my eyes to the power of

words. An article could change policies, garner donations, and even inspire lives. Although I have left the media industry, working with words continues to excite me. Carrying out translation work for Care Corner Singapore allows more people to be aware about the activities that Care Corner offers and the involvement of its volunteers. I am happy to contribute to our community in these small little ways.

”



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欢笑诚可贵亲情价更高看看义工如何把珍贵的亲情带给受益者和他们的家人

关怀家庭服务中心（淡滨尼）提前感觉了

圣诞佳节的气息。近 50位受惠者和他们的

家人于 12月 4日和中心的职员与义工一起

庆祝圣诞节。大家都得到最珍贵的礼物 —

亲情。

早在一个半月前，在线聚会小组 (Meetup)

的 Care (In) Action （简称 CIA）的义

工领袖就开始和中心的职员一切筹备庆祝

会。简便的庆祝会主要目的是增进受惠者

和家人的感情，同时也让受惠者和他们的

社工增进感情。

CIA的义工和中心的职员策划了一系列的游戏，确保庆祝会充满欢笑。一些

CIA的义工也发挥个人技能为庆祝会增添

一份喜气。一名义工 Cun Yang制造游戏摊

位 Touch Me Not的 Buzz Wire道具；另一

名义工 Serene则在现场雕塑气球，带给小

朋友欢乐。其他义工如 Anne和 Denzel也

扮演了招募义工和项目协调的重要角色。

一些义工也不遗余力为庆祝会尽心尽力，

他们忙帮寻找最价廉物美的材料、制造游

戏摊位需要的道具，以及联络其他义工参

与演出和塑气球。



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当天傍晚 7时，中心的社工准时迎接受惠者和

他们的家人，并和他们共进晚餐。之后，大家

就开始玩游戏。每户家人同心协力完成四项游

戏，Touch Me Not, Balloon Shaving, Tinkle

Winkle和 Christmas Charades。游戏结束后，

每户家庭便以手中的记分卡换取礼包。除了游

戏外，在场也有爆米花、棉花糖和气球雕塑给

小朋友。大家也发挥创意为彼此制作圣诞卡。

庆祝会上也有人体彩绘和照相亭。

当晚大家都笑容满面，欢笑声连连，看来大家都玩得不亦乐乎。义工们和中

心的职员也呈献拉丁舞和唱圣诞歌娱乐大家。在场的嘉宾也齐声合唱，有的

还拿出钥匙跟着 Jingle Bells的音乐摇晃打拍子。那确实个难忘的夜晚，无

论是受惠者和他们的家人、社工和受惠者、

义工们、中心、社区等等，大家的感情都更

好了。

关怀家庭服务中心（淡滨尼）的助理主任

Christopher Chiam先生对庆祝会的流程表

示赞赏。他说：“CIA团队有奉献精神、有

责任感，热衷于帮助有需要的家庭，令人留

下深刻的印象。”

中心的义工发展及社区合作经理 James Lim

也说：“看到中心和社区如此紧密的合作，

真是让人欣慰。各阶层人士齐聚一堂，虽然



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之前不认识彼此，但一起为受

益者尽一份力。这次和 CIA的

合作证明了慈善机构能和义工、

社区团体合作，以成就更多的

项目和活动。”

中心的助理项目执行员

Jacklyn Chua也感同身受。也

是庆祝会负责人的她说：“很

开心能和 CIA的义工合作。负

责人 Anne ，Denzel和 Cun

Yang是我看过最投入的义工。

他们尽心尽力协调好 30位义工

的负责项目，确保当天的庆祝

会能顺利进行，他们也对受益者关怀备至。能和他们合作是我的荣幸。”

CIA的义工也分享了他们在圣诞庆祝会上的感

受。Crystal Tan说：“对我而言，快乐是不

要求回报地帮助社会上较不幸的一群。庆祝会

上，除了欢乐，我也看到个个家庭的凝聚力更

强了。”

CIA的义工领袖 Denzel提到：“当义工是社会

责任；有良好的出发点，正确的态度才会对自

己、对受益者有帮助。我很高兴能和这群义工

合作，并参与这个充满欢笑的活动。”



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另一名义工 Carol Lim说：“能在圣诞节前把欢笑

带给大家是非常有意义的。有机会和友善的中心职

员、义工友人合作，我很高兴。我强力鼓励大家当

义工，除了能善用闲暇时间，当看到受益者脸上的

笑容时，更是有满足感。”

Julia Fong也说：“帮助他人是双倍喜悦，他们开

心，我也开心。”

关怀机构在此感谢所有庆祝会的义工。

欲知更多关于义工的详情，请浏览

http://www.carecorner.org.sg/volunteer

.html。

您阅读的这篇精彩文章，是由我们友善的义

工翻译 Si Min带给您的。

翻译：Hong Si Min 孔思敏

“

当记者的那一年我体会了文字的力量。文章能改变政

策、筹集善款，也能发人深省。虽然早已离开传媒界，我仍对

文字工作有着浓厚的兴趣。翻译关怀机构的刊物和其他资讯能

让更多人知道这慈善机构的活动和义工们的善举。取之于社会

用之于社会，能为社会尽点绵力是我的荣幸。

”

vcares issue 6 - the gift for ties

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