Even though he missed the camaraderie and socialising of his regular visits to the Muscular Dystrophy Association Singapore (MDAS) centre in Bishan, Mr Timothy Chan was upbeat during a virtual meet-up with volunteers from Keppel Capital.
The asset management arm of Keppel Group had organised a series of sessions for its employees and MDAS clients using the Houseparty app, which allows up to eight people to play games and chat.
Volunteering amid the COVID-19 pandemic saw companies, organisations and social service agencies adapt and take many of their activities online, as well as create new programmes, to continue engaging with those in need.
Another company that has moved its volunteer work online is insurer Prudential, which has been running engagement sessions with Thong Teck Home for Senior Citizens and the Alzheimer’s Disease Association online since the middle of last month.
Social service agencies have also moved their existing programmes online, such as Touch Community Services’ Touch Young Arrows (TYA) programme and Beyond Social Services’ Learning is Fun and Exciting (LIFE) programme.
The weekly TYA sessions were usually held in small groups. Volunteers would impart values as well as give tuition to the children. Last month, 300 volunteers and 300 children began using Zoom instead.
Touch Community Services said it lost half its volunteers for the Meals-on-Wheels programme after the disease outbreak alert level was raised to orange in February. It has since recruited enough people after an online drive and appeals to firms and individuals.
However, being able to volunteer from home has made volunteering more accessible.
Mr Jeremy Hugon Kosman, chairman of Volunteer Guitar Connection, whose team provides song and cheer to patients at St Luke’s through video calls, said he has more flexibility in joining the sessions as he does not have to travel to the hospital in Bukit Batok and back to his home in the east.
Beyond’s Ms Chiu said “digital volunteerism” is likely to be part of the new norm and Beyond is working on a training programme to equip volunteers with skills to make online learning interesting and interactive.
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Source: The Straits Times, 18 June 2020