Our inaugural Project Good Sam in 2021 has happily come to an end!
All our 11 Centres participated in this community service project held from March to September 2021. A total of 630 children contributed 17,000 hours of their time to this good cause. They also rallied 380 parent and alumni volunteers to support this endeavour. Collectively, they prepared 400 gift packs for the elderly and raised $10,000 for Dorcas Home Care Service.
This was no easy feat especially with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging in the community. This showed that our children can Dream Big and Go Big. Indeed, no one can do everything but everyone can do something.
What is Project Good Sam?
It is a community service initiative and campaign by the Christian Preschool Alliance (CPA) in support of the Singapore Kindness Movement. It is also in support of ECDA’s Start Small Dream Big project.
Project Good Sam is anchored on the Bible story of a Good Samaritan who went out of his way to help someone in need when others would not. Through this initiative, we hope to nurture in our children a heart to “love thy neighbour” with the love of God.
Who are our neighbours? How can we help them?
In this project, the children considered their “neighbours” are. The children worked with their teachers to explore people in the community they can reach out to in order to show them God’s love. Other than our front liners and community helpers, the children also thought about the elderly in our midst.
As COVID continues to spread in the community, many of the elderly have been isolated. All of them can no longer participate in the social activities they used to. Many of them are also home-bound.
Our children worked with their teachers and other volunteers to raise funds and buy household items that were needed by the elderly. They put them into gift packs which were delivered to the homes. They also made cards to express their love and care to these Ah Gongs and Ah Mas.
The Centres also made videos for the elderly to view since many of the children could not deliver the gift packs personally. In turn, the volunteers and staff at the AACs also took pictures of the elderly receiving the gift packs to show the children.
What can we give thanks for?
There is no better time for us to inculcate a genuine love for the community in our children. In times like this, when many amongst us are hurting, we are thankful that the children can still bless others. May our children grow to love others well.