There is nothing more meaningful to celebrating the nation’s birthday than contributing your time to do something meaningful this year.
Have you found time to volunteer recently? If so, what did you do? Do you enjoy giving back to communities in need? If you haven’t, have you had the opportunity to volunteer in the past?
At one point in your life, you would have helped someone in some form. And chances are you would have felt pretty good about doing good. In fact, there’s a saying from the 1980s that best describes this feeling of satisfaction: “Helper’s High”.
That’s right, science has proven that expressing generosity to others releases a good dose of the feel-good hormone oxytocin in our body. Other research has shown that do-gooders have improved emotional well-being and may have lower stress levels too.
This National Day, get your fill of “Helper’s High” by volunteering and helping communities in need. Read on and check out some of our suggestions to do good and volunteer in Singapore. Many of these suggestions are part of the Singapore Cares (SG Cares) initiative which champions doing good in the community.
#DoingGood
If you have trouble figuring out who and how to help, you may want to check out the #DoingGood website. Staying true to this year’s National Day Parade theme “Stronger Together, Mahjulah!”, that Singapore Spirit of helping one another and creating a better future as one big family, this online directory offers users an extensive selection of beneficiaries to choose from.
Check out some of our recommendations below:
Dialysis Centre Volunteers: Stand with National Kidney Foundation (NKF) at the frontline to help safeguard the safety of dialysis patients through the provision of administrative and logistical support.
You can choose to commit one day per week or weekend for 2.5 hours per session.
Select here to volunteer at NKF.
Silver Generation Ambassadors: The Silver Generation Office (SGO) supports the ageing needs of seniors through engaging them at home and at community places. Through these engagements, seniors are encouraged to stay active, healthy and will be connected to government schemes that they can benefit from.
You can choose to commit one hour per session on any day of the week.
Select here to support SGO.
Food Ration Distribution: Social Health Growth Ltd provides monthly food rations to their beneficiaries across different areas in Singapore and requires dedicated and committed volunteers to help with administrative and physical work, which may include heavy lifting as well as a substantial amount of walking.
You can choose to commit one weekend a month for 4 hours.
Select here to support Social Health Growth Ltd here.
Tutoring and Befriending Children with Chronic Illnesses: Support the learning needs of children with chronic illnesses by providing personalised tutoring sessions. Your impact goes beyond that - you are also providing respite for caregivers and reducing the stress they face when it comes to supporting their children’s academics.
You can choose to commit one day per week on a weekday or weekend. Each session is 2-hour long.
Select here to volunteer at Club Rainbow.
#PledgeSG
Make your pledges to do good known at this interactive social wall: #PledgeSG. The online social wall spotlights Singaporeans vocalising their desire to do good and how they are going about it. From pledging to “lead a healthier lifestyle” to “keep parks clean”, the possibilities are endless.
#VolunteerSG
The one-stop volunteering portal has everything you need to figure out what needs to meet. Interestingly, you may also take the opportunity to upskill yourself in the midst too. Below are some of our suggestions:
If you are a youth struggling to communicate with an elderly person who can only speak in dialect, sign up for dialect courses by the Youth Corps Singapore Eldercare Cluster and learn how to hold basic conversations in Hokkien in just six sessions. That way, you can better understand and care for your grandparents at home and the elderly people around you.
Or if you have time and swimming proficiency, you can volunteer your time to guide stroke patients with water therapy exercises by the pool.
Feature Image by UnSplash.
By Sng Ler Jun
