Want to do good from home? Find out where you can volunteer during circuit breaker

While circuit breaker has put a halt to most activities, that’s not to say that we can’t make a difference for those in need of help.

We’ve read about how plenty of Singaporeans have stepped up. Be it delivery food to the needy, helping students to better prepare for national exams amid the disruptions to school, or even creating portals to help the vulnerable community – there’s always a way if you want to do something meaningful for the society during this COVID-19 situation.

If you have plenty of time to spare and want to use it to do good, then check out this list of volunteering opportunities you can sign up for during this period.

If you fancy helping out students from low-income families, especially those who face difficulties with home-based learning, the E CUBE (Enrichment, Empowerment and Education) programme provides an opportunity to do so.

The People’ Association Youth Movement started the programme to bring the enrichment programmes online to youths, especially those in need. As part of the programme, you will help to tutor and guide primary and secondary school students, while encouraging them to stay home during this period.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer tutor for the E CUBE Programme, you can drop an email to PA_PAYM@pa.gov.sg.

The programme is also collecting laptops for students from low-income families who need one. To donate your laptops, you can go here.

Most parents are required to work from home and as such, it can prove to be tricky to engage their children at the same time during the May School Holidays. For those who love playing with kids, Youth Corps Singapore’ Kids Fun Online is for you.

As part of the programme, you will engage children from aged six to nine during the May school holidays through a range of online activities, and assist parents in keeping children meaningfully occupied. Volunteers may engage the children in various activities online, such as craft activities, online scavenger hunts, questionnaires or even reading/numeracy activities.

You only need to spend one hour of your time each day, for two to three days a week. All sessions will be done via Zoom.

Not all volunteering opportunities have to be about helping someone out directly. Under YCS’ Shifting Perceptions, Ageing Confidently, you can join in a panel discussion and share about your experiences on interacting with seniors in Singapore.

The discussion also aims to find out ways people are providing assistance to seniors who are struggling to get by during this period. Who knows, you may even play a part in enabling seniors to lead purposeful, meaningful lives during circuit breaker, or even beyond. You can sign up here.

Meals-on-Wheels is an initiative by TOUCH Home Care, a service under TOUCH Community Services, where volunteers are needed to deliver meals and distribute food to seniors living alone, particularly during the circuit breaker period, where the seniors may find it inconvenient for them to head out and get food.

Youth Corps Singapore is also providing support to TOUCH. This initiative will run until the end of circuit breaker. You can sign up here.

Willing Hearts is a secular, non-affiliated charity that is run by volunteers along with a few staff. It has a soup kitchen that prepares, cooks and distributes about 5,000 daily meals to over 40 locations island wide. Beneficiaries include the elderly, the disabled, low income families, children from single parent families or otherwise poverty stricken families, and migrant workers in Singapore.

You can join Youth Corps Singapore in supporting the vulnerable in Singapore by lending your time and hands at the Willing hearts soup kitchen. Volunteers will do a single shift a day in small groups of 10, working in the kitchen to prepare ingredients, cook and pack meals. You can sign up here.

A collaborative effort between Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), People’s Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council (MESRA) and MENDAKI, Kampus M³ is an online support group for Primary School students (or parents) with homework during the circuit breaker. It exists in the form of a Facebook group, so if you are keen to help, you can simply join the Facebook group here!

We hope you have a good and fun time while volunteering!