| Getting
creative for the sake of charity |
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| An
NEA engineer entertaining the
crowd with magic tricks at the
charity fair. |
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The National Environment
Agency (NEA) has experimented new ways to raise
funds for charity and sealed its commitment with
its Corporate Social Responsibility Statement: “NEA
aims to build a socially responsible workforce who
believes in caring for the community and the environment
through charity, volunteerism, and in setting a
good example to others.”
Its Staff Well-Being Committee (SWBC) recently designed
and organised innovative charity initiatives that
were well supported by staff representatives from
all departments and raised over $10,000 for the
Community Chest.
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| A staff
putting her skills to good use for charity. |
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One of the events was a charity fair held last year.
Instead of asking employees to donate new and used
items for the less fortunate, NEA rallied its staff
to share their talents and skills.
As a result, many staff offered their talents and
services at NEA’s Big Hearts@Work! charity
fair. The products and services “on sale”
ranged from balloon-sculpting, henna painting, handmade
jewellery, customised cross-stitch pieces, portraiture
and even massage therapy! For a token fee, which
went straight to charity, staff and walk-in customers
could bring home a beautifully sculpted balloon
and custom-made ornamental jewellery pieces.
The highlight of the fair proved to be the talented
performances by staff, which drew generous donations
from supportive colleagues.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment
and Water Resources, Associate Professor Koo Tsai
Kee, started the ball rolling by belting out an
all-time favourite Hokkien hit — “Ah
pia jia eh ya” (Strive to win). Staff followed
with popular classic and contemporary hits and even
a magic show!
NEA also responded to the nation-wide call to encourage
romance among singles by launching a Charity Dinner
Date Portal. This was probably the first such initiative
spearheaded by a Public Service organisation, other
than the Social Development Unit.
The portal featured young, eligible singles from
the Environment family comprising the Ministry of
the Environment and Water Resources, NEA and PUB.
Bidding was open to all employees from the three
organisations. The highest bidder won a dinner date
at a fine dining restaurant with the candidate of
his/her choice. The portal also allowed employees
to play matchmaker by entering bids on behalf of
suitable single colleagues, friends, siblings and
even their own children!
NEA’s SWBC organises many workplace health
promotion programmes for staff. It also supports
the President’s Challenge yearly by organising
the Vertical Challenge event that sees staff forming
teams to run or climb up the Environment Building.
As for this year’s charity fair, it will take
on a different format by incorporating a game show.
Staff will be quizzed on NEA’s internal operations
as well as local and global environmental issues.
Their colleagues can show their support by pledging
a sum to charity.
As NEA forges ahead to become an innovative and
dynamic public agency, its SWBC is game to try out
even more ideas — all for a good cause. |
