On 25 November, 20 elders from St Luke’s ElderCare Whampoa Centre joined 40 volunteers from ScienTec Consulting Pte Ltd at The Helping Hand for a fun-filled morning of games, learning about urban farming as well as painting mini flowerpots.
The event began with an emotional sharing of The Helping Hand’s work, which focuses on rehabilitating ex-offenders and helping them reintegrate back into society.
This was followed by a presentation on Urban Farming by Tomato Town, which has an urban farm within The Helping Hand, showcasing their efforts to grow vegetables locally in Singapore’s limited land area.
Then came an exciting time of showcasing singing talents, where elders and volunteers sang their hearts out to old songs, drawing much cheer and praise from the audience.
The participants also played a game of ‘pass the gift’, where a reward was passed from person to person as music played, with the individual holding onto the gift when the music stopped being the winner.
The elders and volunteers also got the chance to bond and express their artistic side by painting their flowerpots together, which would then be planted with a Basil plant seedling which will hopefully serve as a lasting memento of this fun day.
After lunch, which was prepared by The Helping Hand, participants born in November also got a chance to celebrate their birthdays, complete with a lively rendition of Happy Birthday in both English and Mandarin.
Nearing the end of the event, and with plenty of artistic expression on display from the flowerpots painted earlier, a contest was also held to find the best of the best rising artist among the elders. The competition was stiff owing to the diverse and vibrant range of artworks painted over the morning, but of course, a winner was eventually chosen.
 The most artistic elder (and birthday girl), Mdm Wee Seok Khim, 88 |
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to let our elders spend quality time at The Helping Hand. Throughout the day, elders and volunteers bonded across generations and made new connections over the activities, whether by singing, playing games, painting, and having lunch together. We thank The Helping Hand for hosting this event and ScienTec for sending their staff to share this wonderful day with us.
