Tiffany & Co. volunteers with Uncle Ong during their September session. Charles pictured on the bottom right.
When Tiffany & Co.'s training manager Charles Pang signed up to be a volunteer with his company team for Project HomeWorks, little did he know that he'd be going back to his childhood neighbourhood of Bukit Merah.
Being back in the neighbourhood brought back a lot of memories for him. But like many of our first-time volunteers, it was Charles' first exposure to the full extent of poor living conditions of our most vulnerable Singaporeans. The experience changed the way he saw the neighbourhood that he had once called home.
"When I saw the plight of the home-owners, it really humbled me. I feel very proud to have made a small difference in the homeowner’s lives and would like to help in any way possible in future," said Charles.
As the volunteer-in-charge for his company team, Charles led his colleagues for their first ever Project HomeWorks CSR activity in September. Within a day, they helped to carry out Project HomeWork's bed bug elimination process in 2 1-room rental flats for 2 elderly uncles.
Sharing her thoughts on her volunteering experience, Human Resources Director of Asia-Pacific Ms Bernadette Rolton said: “An incredibly touching experience to improve the standards of living for the vulnerable elderly. This memory will stay with me forever. I hope it serves to inspire me and others to continue to give and make a difference.”
September Session: Uncle Quak & Uncle Ong
Bed Bug elimination process:
Professional fumigation (carried out ahead of volunteers' arrival)
Sealing up gaps between walls & electrical casings to eliminate hiding spots
Discarding old infested furniture
Setting up new bed, which includes assembling the metal bed frame and wrapping mattress & pillow in clingwrap
Painting of walls to get rid of old stains
Feedback from the team's experience was so overwhelmingly positive that Tiffany & Co. decided to organise a second session in October. "It was fulfilling and gratifying seeing the home-owners happy and making a difference in their lives. The first session was our senior executives in the region and because of the feedback we decided to have our retail managers in the region experience it too," Charles shared.
Impressed with the good team work and dedication from their first session, our Project HomeWorks team entrusted the teams with 2 intensive cases. Heavily bed bug infested and in need of intensive deep cleaning, the second team of volunteers focused on helping two elderly uncles - both hospitalised at the time of their session - have a clean home that they could home to after being discharged.
Braving through the dust, dirt and grime, our Tiffany & Co. volunteers once again proved their mettle in helping our vulnerable elderly have a better place to call home.
October Session: Uncle Chun & Uncle Ho
Scope of work:
De-cluttering
Intensive cleaning
Scraping peeling paint
Discarding bed bug infested furniture
