Taylors Uni volunteers get a feel for JS work

Volunteers can play an important role in any charity initiative and JS welcomes volunteers seeing that we have so few thus far. Of course being relatively new would account for the fact that not many organisations, colleges or universities would have heard of JS despite us being around for some 4 years now.

So it was a pleasant surprise when six enthusiastic youths from Taylor’s University opted to assist Parents Without Partners with its reaching out efforts to poor single parents while doing their bit for their moral education course.

Nichole who happens to be my ex-colleague from the Edge Ooi’s daughter brought along five of her uni mates and together we spent two days of going around to see what a day in the life of a JS volunteer was like.

First off we introduced them to JS activities from sorting to collection of donated items, donating groceries to deserving poor single parents, dragging unwanted items to the recycle centres, visiting the homework centre at Brilliant Light which was funded by The Edge’s Rat Race event last year and taking the youngsters there through a simple photography course for the day.

Armed with a small digital camera each, the volunteers took between 2 to 3 kids in hand and taught them the rudiments of taking photos of still life in the form of stuffed toys which had been prepared beforehand. The children were excited to learn a new skill and learnt via comparison how to be a better photographer.

On Sunday, the six volunteers turned up early at 9am at the Amcorp Mall to assist in the sale of collectibles and decorative items which is aimed at raising additional funds for JS works. They learnt that it takes skills to be a good sales promoter, that there is value in even the most mundane of items. At the end of the two day volunteering events, the youths have gained a greater appreciation of what it entails to successfully run a charitable organisation. Hopefully it will have inspired them to want to assist the poor in a more practical and heartfelt manner than ever before!