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25 YEARS OF HELP: Chairman Jennie Chua blowing out candles, as beneficiaries (with ms Ye at left), supporters and Chaoyang School students gathered to mark the ComChest's 25th anniversary. -- PHOTO: NCSS
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CHILDREN will be the Community Chest's largest group of beneficiaries this year, receiving $25.4 million in funding through a wide range of programmes.
This is almost half of the $52 million that the fund-raising arm of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) aims to raise this year, the organisation announced yesterday.
Chairman Jennie Chua said the Community Chest (ComChest) is moving further into early intervention, the process of identifying and helping children with special needs at a young age.
She explained: 'The success rate is higher with early intervention, and it is less costly and more cost-effective in the long run.'
Twenty-year-old Ye Hui Qi, who suffers from cerebral palsy, which impairs her mobility, was put on an early-intervention programme from the age of four.
The Asian Women's Welfare Association Teach Me programme provided Ms Ye with free physiotherapy, counselling and a personal guidance officer who kept track of her grades and provided academic advice.
The mass communications graduate from Ngee Ann Polytechnic now hopes to pursue a degree course at a local university.
'Therapy sessions helped me make the transition to crutches and that allowed me to be more mobile, so I was able to go to school at Ngee Ann,' said Ms Ye, who previously needed a walker to get around.
Yesterday, she attended a celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the ComChest, which also unveiled its targets and strategies for the year ahead.
The gathering included NCSS chief executive officer Ang Bee Lian, who explained why a higher percentage of funds is going to children.
'Over the years, early-intervention programmes have become more comprehensive and more people have enrolled, which explains the need for funds,' she said.
The $52 million that the ComChest hopes to raise this year is expected to fund 147 programmes and help over 310,000 people here.
The organisation is also pumping money into research.
The NCSS is looking to produce in-depth guides on subjects such as early dementia, special-needs children and social work in school, as well as a bilingual manual for volunteers who work with the elderly.
Over the last 25 years, the ComChest has raised more than $600 million.
simlinoi@sph.com.sg
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