The Boys’ Brigade Share-a-Gift (BBSG) 2014 donation drive has successfully collected enough items to fulfill the Christmas wishes of 35,845 of its beneficiaries, some of whom will receive not just the traditional food hampers it gives out every year, but also items like adult diapers, school bags and mattresses to fulfill specific requests.
The annual BBSG donation drive, currently into its 27th year, saw 3,500 Boys’ Brigade officers and boys volunteering to collect, pack and deliver the items to beneficiaries. Nearly 1,000 members of the public also helped deliver the donation items.
Among the volunteers was Mr Bobby Ng, who has spent the last 11 Christmases ensuring that the project would go off without a hitch.
This year, the 34-year-old has had to devote almost 16hrs a day to the project, every day of the week, for a few weeks. Besides coordinating the logistics of the donation drive, Mr Ng also collected and delivered the donation items, often starting his days at 8am and ending at 2am.
“I only slept for around five hours a day so that was a challenge,” said Mr Ng. “But it’s a meaningful project because at the end of the day, seeing the smiles on the beneficiaries is what pushes me on.”
While the collection boxes are no longer available, members of the public can still donate general food and household hampers valued at S$30 and S$50 through NTUC FairPrice’s website.
These extra donations will go to voluntary welfare organisations such as aLife, St Theresa’s Home and Pertapis Children’s Home, which would then identify and donate the items to their own beneficiaries.
The public can also drive down to the Boys’ Brigade Headquarters to help out with weekday deliveries of the food hampers until the end of the month.
“While we have achieved our target, the project has not ended,” said BBSG 2014 chairman Lui Chong Chee. “We sincerely hope that more will join us on our journey to deliver the food hampers, so that our beneficiaries can receive their gifts as soon as possible.”
The donation drive last year saw around 5,000 volunteers collecting and distributing items to more than 40,000 beneficiaries.
Source: TODAY