Eunoia Junior College

2020 Media VIA at

Willing Hearts

“One Media, One Heart”

Introduction

Our CCA’s experience at Willing Hearts was indeed an insightful one. Willing Hearts is a non-profit organisation run by volunteers who operate a soup kitchen, preparing and distributing food across Singapore. Beneficiaries include the elderly, the disabled, low income families, children from single parent families or otherwise poverty stricken families, and migrant workers in Singapore. We chose this organisation as we wanted to lend a helping hand to their operations during this trying time amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Our Experiences

On our first day at Willing Hearts, we were initially taken aback by the “loose” way they operated. Volunteers arriving at their pre-booked timeslots can choose from a wide variety of tasks to help with, such as cutting vegetables, cooking food, washing the pots and pans, and more. There was no one to dictate what exactly we helped out with, except for the occasional seasoned volunteers calling out for extra help to unload and load boxes, or to push the large green garbage trolleys to the roadside. They also helped to guide us through the specifics of various tasks, such as which vegetables to cut and how to cut them. We arrived as a large group, and split up to do different tasks. One area was designated for vegetable cutting, where we would sit around a table to peel or cut various greens. Through this, some of us learnt how to correctly peel and cut common vegetables, such as the Cauliflower, in the most efficient manner. Other areas included the Kitchen, or the dishwashing area. After a few days of going back, we slowly became used to the workflow, and got better at the tasks we did.

Key Learning Points

Besides learning new skills around the food preparation area and the kitchen, one of the things we picked up from this VIA activity is to take initiative. The place was busy, and sometimes, as we were doing our own tasks, we might see others who might need a hand. The VIA experience as a whole, being an on-site one, meant that we had to get our hands dirty and physically help out. While some participants may not be used to this at the start, we are sure that after knowing how their help would lessen the workload for the other elderly volunteers as well as go towards the meals that are given to the community, they would have found the tasks less grueling, and instead see it from a different perspective of being able to give back. As a VIA activity, this strongly ties in with our school visions of developing Youths with purpose, and Thinkers with Heart. We believe that the media participants have also gotten more bonded through this VIA activity, which is beneficial, as we were not able to interact much across mods in 2020 due to the covid-19 restrictions, which further serves the ‘Four Mods, One Media’ aim.

CCA VIA Ambassador

SEAN KOH (20-A6)