A meaningful Christmas - volunteering with Lions Befrienders.

As I grow older, my Christmas wishlist gets shorter because the things I want cannot be bought - like friendship, kinship, and true happiness.

Today was a meaningful day where I spent the afternoon with some friends and children distributing food ration to the elderly living alone.

Some are blind, some are wheelchair-bound, some can only speak dialect, most are alone and live in suboptimal conditions.

As it was our first time doing charity work with my children, I was so apprehensive of their reactions.

But my worries were unfounded because as it turned out, all the kids present today were helpful and enthusiastic and did not mind the squalid living conditions they were faced with.

They fought over who to carry what, and raced to be first to knock on the doors.

About Lions Befrienders:

Lions Befrienders is a voluntary welfare organization founded in 1995 by the Lions Club of Singapore and a Lions District Project.

LB's mission is to provide friendship and care to the lonely poor elderly.

At Qian Wen's (Raising our successful children) place during our Christmas dinner last weekend, packing the ration for 60 families! All in a small bedroom, and we managed to do it efficiently too :D
Thanks Qian Wen for coordinating everything with such fluidity!

On the actual distribution day: 7 families with our respective children contributed to make it happen.

Meet-up point was at Redhill Close, near to the Redhill market and Redhill MRT Station.

Normally ask them help me carry groceries also grumble but today they were all so enthusiastic.
What a surprise for me!

Mission accomplished! It was a roaring success!
Thank you Juline from Lions Befrienders for helping us out and making the process a smooth and hiccup-free one for first-timer us.

My objective was to expose my children to people who were less fortunate than them, and make them realize comfort and fortune are not everyone's birth rights.

Only humanity and kindness are.

Today, my objective was not only met but surpassed by the actions and effort of all our children.

Well done, kids! I am proud of each and every one of you.
Indeed, not all gifts are found under the Christmas tree, and today I learned a new lesson - while we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.

If you would like to join Lions Befrienders as a volunteer, please go to their website.

Wish you all a Merry, MERRY Christmas and Happy New Year.

May 2016 bring you joy, peace, health and happiness.