On the 26th of January 2013, the Leo Club of Singapore Metropolitan organized a spring cleaning activity for the elderly living in 2 rooms flat in Ghim Moh residential area, in collaboration with Lions Befrienders (Ghim Moh) Service Association. This was with the aim of helping the lone elders to freshen up their homes in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
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| On our way to spring clean! |
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| Listening attentively to the briefing... |
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| Packing the CNY goodies bags to be given out!:) |
Our volunteers helping the elderly to clean her bedroom!
"I found that this project was very meaningful as beyond the purpose of cleaning their house for CNY, it was the chatting and the joking around with the elderly which i really enjoyed too because i can see that the elderly whom we visited, she was quite lonely and yearning for people to spend time with her despite being unable to express. because at the end, when we were about to leave, she did seem to be a little disappointed, so i hope that this meaningful project will be able to continue and i was glad that i was able to be part of it! at first when we went into her house, we thought that her house was already quite clean and well-groomed, so we didn't know how to start cleaning and we felt like we were disrupting her daily activities with our "sudden intrusion", but after a while, we realised that there were many areas that needed to be clean up and it was to my surprise that the elderly also commented that we did a good job and her house became very clean. That made me very happy to her being so satisfied."
-Volunteer Sheean Chia
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| Metropolitan Leo hard at work! |
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| Our volunteers and the very happy old grandma after the spring cleaning activity!:) |
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| Mandarin oranges sponsored by our dearest Lions from Lions Club of Singapore Metropolitan! |
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| Yummylicious CNY cookies sponsored by Home's Favourite! |
24 Metro Leos and volunteers gathered at Lions Befrienders (Ghim Moh) senior activity centre at 9am for a briefing on some general guidelines on the spring cleaning activity. After which, we put our hands together to pack 130 CNY goodies bags for the elderly under the care of Lions Befrienders, which consisted of 2 mandarin oranges, 3 packets of CNY cookies and a small message card from us. With many fast fingers, we managed to complete the packing by 10am and we were all ready to set off for our cleaning activity!
Armed with the necessary cleaning equipments, we proceeded to the 5 households that have been previously selected by Lions Befrienders, based on the living conditions of the elderly. Our spring cleaning activity focused mainly on dust cleaning, especially areas that are rather inaccessible for the elderly, such as window and door, as well as general cleaning of the furnitures such as fan. Besides, we also cleaned the kitchen and toilet. At the end of the cleaning activity, we helped the elderly to decorate their homes a little with the CNY decorations as they usher in the new year. The elderly were happy with their fresh and clean homes after the cleaning, and we also enjoyed chatting with them as we cleaned. Through this spring cleaning activity, we felt the plight of our parents before every chinese New Year, and we shall try to lighten their workload in the coming years.
"I felt that this was a very meaningful project. Though most of us do not have the experience of doing household chores, we gave our best in helping the elderly to clean up their houses. This event had also given us the opportunity to interact with the elderly, many were excited to share about themselves and were curious to know about us too. Overall, I felt that this project has not only allowed us to lend a helping hand to the elderly, we were also reminded by the elderly to be more appreciative of life and to show more care towards our own grandparents. I hope that this will be an annual LEO event, so that we can continue to bring smiles to the elderly every Chinese New Year."
- Leo Project Director Serene
"I really liked the activity! It's the first time I have done cleaning for an elder's home and I really enjoyed it! Although it is only a one time event, I felt that we did give some practical assistance to them! The elderly that we cleaned the house for was really happy that we helped him. We had a good conversation with him. He was quite an intellectual man who educated me about Singapore politics! He had a very cute laugh too! Haha. Overall I really enjoyed myself!"
-Volunteer Clarice Lee
While most of us were spring cleaning the households, another group of volunteers went door-to-door to distribute the CNY goodies packs and wish the elderly a good start of the new year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Lions Club of Singapore Metropolitan for the kind sponsorship of mandarin oranges and Mr Jason from Home's Favourite for the kind sponsorship of cookies handmade with love. All these will not be possible without their continuous support and generosity. We would also like to thank Lions Befrienders (Ghim Moh)'s centre manager, Abigail and her dedicated team of volunteers for coordinating and helping us out with the activity.
Last but not last, heartfelt thanks to our Metropolitan Leos (Angelin, Tihyong, Serene & Tiong Hui) and volunteers (Clarice, Suzanne, Pei Fang, Shirong, Thomas, Jiaming, Magdalene, Shu Xian, Sylvia, Cheryl, Eric, Yunxuan, Hai Ching, Ting Yun, Aaron, Daryl, Sheean, Yuan Liang, Yang Ming and Alvin) who have sacrificed their saturday morning sleep to volunteer with us. Thanks also to our guest from Malaysia, Leo Potter! On behalf of the Leo Club of Singapore Metropolitan, thank you very much to everyone for all the hard work, and we look forward to volunteering with you all again! :)
If you are interested in viewing more photos from this
event, do visit our Album on our Facebook Page at the following link: Leo Club of Singapore Metropolitan Project Spring 2013
