Do Good, Feel Good

It’s the United Nation’s International Day of Charity today so I thought I would take some time to share about my experience organising Titansoft’s Corporate Social Responsibility program- T.Cares. As well as to highlight some novel, yet simple and convenient ways we can incorporate the act of giving into our daily lives.

(Some Titansoft volunteers at Children’s Cancer Foundation’s Hair for Hope 2015 event)

When planning T.Care activities, I get the unique chance to find ways for our staff to meaningfully engage in helping our society.  Part of the main challenge is often finding a wide variety of activities that suits the persona of our staff as well as choosing causes that resonate well with our Titansoft goal to help the community. Over the past year we’ve had the chance to…

Help clean the beach as part of NEA’s Seashore Life Program

Be part of the team helping to raise funds for Children Cancer Foundation’s Hair for Hope

Spruce up some doggy kennels at Action for Singapore Dogs

Pack food for the underprivileged at The Food Bank

We don’t need science to tell us that helping others is a good thing but what if you want to give back but you’ve got limited time and resources? Fret not! There are tons of meaningful ways you can do so that go beyond writing cheques to charities.

1) Play A Game
Websites such as freerice.com allow players to learn new words and test their vocabulary while helping to feed the World’s Hungry at the same time. They donate 20 grains of rice to the World Food Programme (WFP) for every word that is correctly defined.

2) Shopping
Shopaholics unite! Other than buying your items from charity shops there’s also another way that spending money on yourself can help others.  Who can resist the allure and convenience of online shopping right? If you’re a chronic online shopping addict ( like some of my colleagues ;)), do take note that amazon.com has a amazonsmiles program that donates part of the price of your eligible items to the charity of your choice!

3) Donate your Pre-Loved Items
Don’t throw away your old clothes/books/toys if they are still in good condition. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. By helping to reduce waste we’re also helping to save our environment as well! Donate your pre-loved items to charities such as The Salvation Army where items are either sold for profit or given to those in need in Singapore/ other countries where The Salvation Army operates. You can even take it a step further by organising a mass collection in your office like we do every year 🙂 Thereafter, simply drop the items off at one of their convenient drop-off points.
( Above: Dropping off the tons of items donated by our staff at The Salvation Army’s donation boxes)

4) Donate your excess food
If you’re like me and you go abit nuts in the supermarket you may find times when you have more food than you can finish. The Food Bank actually takes in food and helps to redistribute them to homes for the needy across the island. I particularly think that their Chinese New Year food collection drive where they collect excess CNY goodies to redistribute is a fantastic idea! How many love letters and pineapples tarts can one eat anyway right?

Hope I’ve been able to share some new and interesting ways of how we can incorporate a little bit of altruism in our every day lives 🙂