On Saturday 25 July 2020, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worked with the Lions Befrienders to deliver 146 sensitizer packages to senior residents living in the Ang Mo Kio residential district.
The Lions Befrienders is a Social Service Agency, which aims to provide friendship and care for seniors through community participation. This charity effort was made to help ensure the health and safety of the elderly during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Packages were first prepared by the Lions Befrienders, containing items like hand sanitizers, antibacterial wet wipes, all-purpose surface cleaners, and Vitamin-C tablets. Forty-nine volunteers from the Church then delivered the packages to seniors at their homes.
Volunteers arrived at separate timings, retrieving the care packages and the addresses of the senior residents
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| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
These various groups were then asked to come in smaller, separate groups at assigned timings to prevent overcrowding. Other measures were used, including regular hand sanitisation and using gloves upon delivery to ensure the residents’ safety.
Despite the extra challenges with logistical and safety arrangements, many volunteers expressed their happiness in volunteering, especially those who had invited their family members and friends who are not members of the church to join the project.
This positive sentiment was clearly shared by many.
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Joseph Ang, delivering a package to an elderly resident.2020A young volunteer, Joseph Ang, felt the same. His father, Michael, expressed it as such: “Great and uplifting activity… Joseph said he felt he had done something good today!”
The Choo family in their first service project together as a family.
Darrell Choo and family, preparing to deliver the packages.2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Darrell Choo, who participated with her husband, shared: “We enjoyed thoroughly this first service outing we had (in a long time) as a family, and the ability to do our bit for the seniors!”
Liney Mae is another young volunteer who enjoyed her time delivering packages directly to the elderly residents. “Service changes people,” she said. “It refines, purifies, gives a finer perspective, and brings out the best in each one of us. It gets us looking outward instead of inward.”
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Aida, Talei Butel, Stake President Jean Luc-Butel, and Liney. nullIn a post-activity message to his fellow volunteers, Stake President Jean Luc-Butel thanked everyone for their help and service. “Being involved in the community is important as it shows we care and it allows others to know us too. Liney, Aida and my daughter did the deliveries but all three of them said that these elderly people ‘were cheerful, adorable and funny’!”
The Church values such opportunities to partner with local community groups for a social good, and looks forward to strengthening this cooperation with the Lions’ Befrienders, through future service projects.