Some 300 needy families in Choa Chu Kang received an early Chinese New Year gift on Sunday morning when 190 volunteers dropped off festive food packs for them.

Another lucky 18 even had their homes painted and spring-cleaned by grassroots and student volunteers from the Yew Tee Grassroots Organisations and Singapore Polytechnic. They were beneficiaries of the South West Community Development Council's Festive Cheers @ South West programme. It will run till next month and aims to reach out to 2,700 low-income families and elderly residents.

Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower Dr Amy Khor, who is also Mayor of the district, joined the volunteers on their visits and pitched in to help some students paint.

"We hope to uplift the lives and spirits of our vulnerable residents through programmes like these," she said.

The gesture has served as a huge help for Choa Chu Kang resident Mr Lim Kian Seng, 50, who is partially blind and stays in a one-room rental flat.

"I'm very grateful to the CDC and its volunteers, they've been offering me support for a long time,' said Mr Lim, who intends to host friends in his home during the Lunar New Year.