SINGAPORE - Tampines Meridian Junior College (JC) student Hareesh Shivaprakash rallied 22 of his classmates to bring cheer to orphanage children.

The 18-year-old Boys' Brigade (BB) senior cadet lieutenant, who has been with the youth organisation for about 10 years, worked with his classmates from February to collect more than 11 boxes of toys, stationery and schools for the children at Gracehaven Orphanage.

Although their plans were delayed by the pandemic, they advertised the campaign on Facebook and Instagram to gather donations, and eventually concluded the distribution in September.

Hareesh, along with eight other Boys' Brigade members, were awarded the President's Award for their significant contributions to the community and being a role model to others.

They had also fulfilled other selection criteria, such as leadership achievements and completing courses that hone skills such as leadership development.

The nine recipients received their awards at the Istana on Tuesday (Dec 14).

Conferred by President Halimah Yacob this year, this is the 17th time that the award is being given to the Boys' Brigade.

Besides the donation drive, Hareesh, who is in JC2, and his Boys' Brigade team worked with Yong-en Care Centre to distribute hampers and food and organise games for children in the centre.

Hareesh, who expressed his hope that the award could inspire future generations, said: "I feel very happy and honoured to receive this award. It means that we've successfully gone through what the Boys' Brigade expects of us. We've been able to develop over the years to become better men."

Other recipients included Boys' Brigade senior cadet lieutenant Ethan Yap, 18, who was involved in a project with his student interest group in Raffles Institution from October last year to February this year to raise awareness through Instagram about underprivileged groups affected by Covid-19.

Following the campaign, Ethan, who is in JC2, and his 11 teammates collected more than 150 books to donate to young children in conjunction with non-governmental organisation (NGO) Paperback Bridges.

The NGO aims to raise literacy levels of children from low-income families.