By Chan Kok Hoe
Over thirty children and family members from the Kids Integrated Development Service (KIDS) 0-3 Centre had a fun-filled Saturday morning in their visit to the River Safari on Saturday, 22 October 2016. Professors Julian Wright and Basant Kapur joined with Alumni volunteers to accompany the families to see the various wildlife attractions, including the Giant Pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia, manatees and river otters.
KIDS 0-3 Centre provides health, social and educational services for vulnerable children and their mothers. The Alumni Committee has partnered with the Centre for this trip as an ongoing effort to help our alumni give back to the wider community. Volunteers such as Harry Lim (Class of ’89) found the event meaningful and interesting, and relished the opportunity to “bring cheers to the kids on a Saturday morning”.
During lunch break, volunteers led the families in playing Charades. Children were initially shy to act out scenes in front of the audience, but quickly warmed up with our volunteers’ help, and became enthusiastic participants. Participants received shopping vouchers for their efforts, and families also received goodie bags.
Acknowledgements: We thank the Department of Economics for providing generous financial support, Denieru Tatsu F&B Holdings (S) Pte. Ltd. for providing goodie bags, and Associate Professor Alberto Salvo for donating shopping vouchers. We also thank Committee members Shen Xiaoying (Coordinator), Daniel Lo, Edwin Chen, Chua Yeow Hwee and Chan Kok Hoe for their efforts in organizing the outing.
First published in ECONews in March 2017