Yellow Ribbon Project

Organization:Yellow Ribbon Project

The Yellow Ribbon Project (YRP) is an organisation that aims to seek to engage the community in accepting ex-offenders and their families by giving them a second chance at life and to include actions to support ex-offenders and their families.

How they help?

The Yellow Ribbon Fund (YRF) uses donations to develop and implement reintegration programmes for the ex-offenders with the genuine desire to change for the better. They also hope to support and strengthen the ties of their families through Family Support Programmes.

What we did?

The Saint Advocates have conducted an in-school fundraising sales selling namely:

Yellow Ribbon Tie Pins

Exclusive to SAJC due to the unique culture of having a tie as a part of the school uniform

A special way to show support for YRP as SAJC students.

Yellow Flowers

Tying in with the theme of “yellow”, these flowers are nice gifts to purchase for friends and teachers to show your appreciation.

Publicity Posters

Conclusion: 

Raised a total of $500 in profit for YRP.

Learning Journey to Pathlight School

Special needs.

Whenever we hear this particular term, we often assume such people have disability and hence require charity. At the Student Leadership Dialogue at Pathlight School, this view was challenged.

Why is a person different?

What is autism                                                      

Seated in a state of the art auditorium complete with hi-tech equipment, one would not expect what was to come.

‘What is joy and meaning to you?’

This was what Ms Denise Phua, Chairperson of Autism Resource Centre and MP of Jalan Besar GRC, challenged us at the annual Student Leadership Dialogue at Pathlight School.

It was evident that a life of service and empowering others was hers. She shared her inspiring story of how learning that her son was diagnosed with autism compelled her to champion the autism cause. It was with this passion that enabled Pathlight to be born.

The fruits of her labour can be seen from the impressive architecture and state of the art technology at Pathlight to the planning and execution of education.

The programme at Pathlight is catered for children from the different autism spectrums, with both the academic track and vocational track in place so that the students could fully tap into their abilities.

Pathlight uses the same academic curriculum as mainstream primary and secondary schools, unlike many special needs schools. This was to empower students with a full-fledged education, such that they will be dignified because they do not deserve less simply due to special needs.

For the vocational training, Pathlight collaborates with Starbucks and Mr Bean allowing their students to pick up valuable life skills such as preparing and serving food. All these trainings are conducted within the Pathlight campus, with a quasi-cafeteria doubling up as their workstation.

As the dialogue closed, I asked her what are the problems that youth today face, with respect to serving the community. She simply replied – the same as everyone else: Time. It’s about making the seconds count.

This philosophy of hers extends to the entire school, displayed by staff and students alike.

The eager and earnest students of Pathlight School, who were wearing smiles all the time, served us refreshments that they had prepared themselves. I could really see the pride and joy they put into their work, something many of us could definitely learn from.

With that, I would like to end off with a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, that summarizes what is the essence of what a person is.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

YFC: La Esperanza (Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home)

Organization:

Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home (CSLMCH)

What we have done:

One main cause that our group is passionate about is cultivating the artistic talents of youths. Therefore, we have put in place the idea of organizing an art concert to raise fund for these children at SAJC Cultural Centre on the 22^nd July,2011. 

The concert La Esperanza was welcome by students from different junior colleges around Singapore and performers are youths from schools such as Saint Andrew’s Junior College, Hwa Chong Institution, Catholic Junior College, Raffles Institution,etc. Children from Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home also got an opportunity to showcase their talents through a performance which received much support from the audience.

Achievement:
Through this, we have achieved the dual purpose of being able to raise more than $1500 in all from the ticket and also to raise public awareness of CSLMCH. To help us achieve our target, more than 30 recruited volunteers from Saint Advocates of Saint Andrew’s Junior College have willingly served as runners and ushers on the day of the concert. This event has provided opportunities for the children in CSLMCH as well as the students involved in the concert to showcase their artistic talents as well as showcase the importance of artistic cultivation in youths.

Funds raised from this project went to CSL Methodist Children's Home,which helps children from needy and disadvantaged families.

YFC: Reflection/Testimonials (WBA)

VWO reflection

The Wheelchair Basketball Association (Singapore) is very appreciative of the opportunity to collaborate with SAJC for the second year under the Youth For Causes Projects 2011.

The funds raised will go a long way towards the Association’s mission of promoting wheelchair basketball as an inclusive sport for all.  Our members participated with the Organising Committee and their fellow SAJC students in wheelchair basketball matches held during a massive outreach event at SAJC on 23 Jul 2011.  It was heart-warming to see young students trying wheelchair basketball for the first time.  To them, maneuvering a wheelchair is difficult enough, let alone having to play basketball sitting on a wheelchair.  To personally witness how they surmount such challenges and still manage to throw the basketball into the basket is an affirmation of the indomitable human spirit.  Their enthusiasm and energy is all inspiration to all.

The Secretariat at YMCA of Singapore has provided much needed skills on fund raising as well as the required information on organising massive outreach programmes.  Members of the Organising Committee acquired the necessary skills and knowledge to have a job well done.

I hope that the journey was educational, challenging but enjoyable to all.  Our members are looking forward to the continued collaboration and support of SAJC in promoting wheelchair basketball in Singapore.

Lim Puay Tiak

President

Wheelchair Basketball Association (Singapore)

Volunteers Reflection

Helping the project allowed me to understand more about fundraising and its fundamentals. It was a learning experience and I enjoyed every bit. It was a pleasure to help and know that I can do something and support a cause. 

-Andrea Tan

Team's Reflection

Throughout the whole YFC project, I’ve learnt so much that I cannot express in words. From the start of the project we found many difficulties in implementing or even continuing our ideas. We really wanted to make a difference but had too high hopes that never really did happen. In the end, we have a vision in mind and when we decided on our ideas, it was way too late. Furthermore, we made many blunders, including the purchasing of merchandises. Also, we had to overcome many internal conflicts which were aggravated by our problems. This made the project a very difficult one in the end, we barely scrape through but we had a life-changing experience, an experience that challenged our willpower, strength and made us different. We have learnt so many skills especially in countering problems and I’m deeply grateful for this chance.

-Edward Tan

This YFC journey has been enjoyable and fruitful. Through this, I have been shaped into a very dedicated and determined person. Even though there were many setbacks we faced along the way, as a team, we blossomed into thoughtful people. I personally have also gained insights on the community beyond school, especially through our VWO. The knowledge and skills that I have attained from this journey will be helpful for my other pursuits in the future. 

-Renuka

Initially, I thought YFC was a simple fundraising project for our VWOs, it turned out to be much more tedious than I imagined. Through this project, we encountered many difficulties such as communication and management problems. On top of that, we had to solve and settle many issues on our own including execution and planning with little help. It was really stressful and tedious. Despite all these, I feel that YFC project is an enjoyable experience and I learnt a lot from it especially planning and organizing street sales and administrative work. I have also learnt to serve and help the community and this is a meaningful experience.

-Wan Ying

Through this YFC, I’ve learnt about co-operation and what it takes to be a team player. The project taught me about emotional and personal management and gave me a better insight on volunteer work and fundraising itself. The YFC taught me about determination as we initially suffered a loss and it’s with determination and willpower were we able to break even. Though the project was tiring and frustrating, I think it was essential as it enabled us to grow as individuals and know our capabilities.

-Gio Tan

Team N'able 2011 :)

World Play Day 2011

Organisation: Metropolitan YMCA

What we did? : Help MYMCA organise World Play Day, which is an annual event aim to encourage playing. We helped in 2 aspects: organising and manning game booths (8 in total) and were in charge of the performance.

Target Audience: Singaporean families

Our students teaching the ladies how to play the “Pair Up” game as a part of their Service Learning with Metropolitan YMCA.

The son and his mom compete against his sister and their dad in the “Pair Up” game.

Our students facilitating the children as they play “Throwing Tic Tac Toe”.

SL rep briefing classmates how to play the game

Teaching the children how to play the game

Our SAJC students, who went down to support World Play Day, are dancing to our Mass Dance, Shake It, as the closing performance.