NYAA Entry- Service - New Year's Eve

Date: 31 December 2007
Venue: MPFSC
Duration: 5 hours (0800-1300)
People involved: Boon Kiat, Edmund, Joseph, Seth, Zhan Liang, Calvin, Thomas and Jia wei

On New Year's eve, the MPFSC decided to share its' collected donations with recipients in the Marine Terrace area to spread the festive cheer going all around. The donations were part of the Boys Brigade's H.E.A.R.T project, supported by the Singapore Prison Services as well. These included daily commodities such as rice, cooking oil and canned food that were painstakingly collected from the generosity of various individuals.
We all met up at 8am sharp before heading to the MPFSC. Many volunteers also had arrived and our first task was to arrange all the donations properly as their sheer amount proved to be a logistical nightmare for the MPFSC staff who were mostly female. The food had to be sorted out into groups such as rice, cereal, biscuits and salt/sugar before we could place them in the already filled storeroom. It was crucial that we organized everything perfectly as the food was to be disbursed to needy residents to tide their meals over. Although the task was laborious, we all knew it would be much easier to access the donations and also provide a more conducive environment for the service center to operate as the donations had even 'flooded' into its' main communal area!
By the time the center sorted out the piles of donations with our help, we then had to deliver the food to the many residents around the Marine Terrace area, such as blocks 51 and 55. To cover more ground, we split ourselves up into groups to facilitate the movement of our donations with the help of trolleys and push-carts. Each household received 2 bags of rice, some cooking oil, a box of instant noodles and some canned food. In addition, we were also tasked with ensuring each recipient received their Special Assistance Grant Card by handing it to them personally, to qualify them for the various help schemes to tide them over.
It was worth it to spend 5 hours helping many needy households to see their smiles as they received the donations from the MPFSC. Their appreciation went a long way as it made our time volunteering worthwhile and yet meaningful. We were all glad that the joy of the coming new year was made available to all.