40 staff volunteers from iCare, one of the teams under Singapore
Pools' Staff Community Programme, iShine, brought a group of 44 preschoolers
from Metta PreSchool @ Punggol for a play day to PLAYtopia. The playground is the
first playground located within a library.
While most of the children were excited as soon as they entered
the playground and began trying out the slides, the volunteers encouraged the shy
ones. The programme closed with volunteers
distributing Happy Meals to the children.
“We had lots of fun playing throw a nd catch hopper ball and
learning bits and pieces of each child’s likes and dislikes. Their smiles
certainly brightens my day!” said Jesslin, a volunteer for the day.
Metta PreSchool @ Punggol and Simei are part of the Metta Welfare
Association, where the latter is a charity adopted by iCare since 2003. The preschools
were set up to provide specialised early intervention programmes for children
aged 3 to 6 from various races and religions who are diagnosed with mild to
moderate autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities.