Eager to do something meaningful with the elderly, and to help them overcome the lack of social interaction during the pandemic, Human Resource colleagues led by Agnes Chin, Ng Shi Yuan and the HR Welfare Committee staff organised a lantern-making workshop for Yong-en residents as part of the SingHealth President’s Challenge community outreach programme.
To raise funds to buy the materials, these colleagues partnered Ashes Burnnit and Arnold’s Fried Chicken to sell vouchers to bring delicious burger and fried chicken meals to staff. The materials bought with the proceeds were delivered to all the residents’ homes for the online lantern-making workshop. Each resident also received mooncakes generously sponsored by Neo Group.
What is Mid-Autumn Festival without mooncakes? Packed in elegant boxes, delicious mooncakes sponsored by Neo Group were given to seniors to enjoy with their loved ones.
More than 30 residents and staff from Yong-en Care Centre logged in for the event on 10 September 2021. Joined by colleagues from National Dental Centre and Duke-NUS Medical School, the team of 7 volunteers started the session with games and riddles. They then split into smaller groups in different breakout rooms for more personal coaching and interaction. The 3-hour session ended on a joyous note with the seniors proudly displaying their beautiful Do-It-Yourself (DIY) lanterns.
Seniors watched a tutorial video on lantern-making before getting creative with their own lanterns under the watchful eyes of volunteers.
Seniors proudly displaying their beautifully created DIY lanterns organized as part of the SingHealth President’s Challenge 2021 outreach programme with residents from Yong-en Care Centre.
About Yong-en Care Centre
Yong-en Care Centre supports disadvantaged families and does extensive work in eldercare since 1996. Located in Chinatown, its Dementia Day Care allows seniors with dementia to age meaningfully with interactive activities while providing respite to care-givers. Active seniors benefit from its Active Ageing programme created to encourage a healthy lifestyle and social network while its Resilience Club provides counselling for at-risk students.
Want to do your part for Yong-en and other social service agencies benefitting from SingHealth President’s Challenge 2021? Support the Digital Relay run, by sponsoring over 400 SingHealth runners pounding the streets for a 24-hour relay. Spread the word to your colleagues, friends and family members to support these runners with #onekindact by making a donation via Giving.sg link.
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