Promoting Volunteerism the Fun Way

Show Youth Care (SYC) is an inaugural event organised by Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to promote the spirit of volunteerism. The event was held over two days in July at the Atrium and showcased a total of 18 booths by various community service and environment related CCAs and their partner organisations.

It was a little quiet during the afternoon when I visited on the first day, with a few people in each booth. I walked into the auditorium and was welcomed by the representative from the Mentoring Club who introduced their booth’s objective. I played some of the games that they had prepared. Through one of the games, I learned how to properly engage senior citizens with better communication skills and behaviours.

The next stop for me was A.R.T which captured my attention. Organised by NYP Students’ Union, the station had a big crowd. I saw serious faces tracing pictures on a translucent sheet while some drew their pictures freely. Most of them did it beautifully. Some of them were making Shrink Art, which involved the process of drawing on shrinkable plastic sheets and then baking the sheets to shrink them. The “baked” sheets were then punched and made into keychains. Many of them were clearly having fun, and some of them even made more than one keychain as gifts.

I headed next to the food exchange booth. Well, I am always drawn to the idea of food, no matter what form it takes. The student in-charge explained the purpose of the booth, which was to spread awareness on food wastage. They prepared a mini game that required visitors to act as customers in a supermarket and shop for essentials with a limited amount of money. “Shoppers” learnt a lesson when the seller decided to sell almost expired groceries at a discounted price. The game taught the “shoppers” that buying unwanted items may lead to overspending and also wasting of food if it was not consumed when it expired.

According to Sabarudien, the father of a NYP student, this game made him realise the importance of buying only necessary items. He also commended the booth volunteers on their clear instructions and explanations.

There were also other interesting booths like the Blood Donation, First Aid, and Project Clean-Up booths.

Overall, the event was surprisingly interesting and I could see that the organisers put in a lot of effort to make SYC a successful event. I signed up for one of the events that the Mentoring Club would be conducting in early October.

By Mu'adzah Binte Mohd Shapie, Diploma in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technology