Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development what measures is the Ministry taking to improve the matching of volunteers and donors for community needs.
Answer
MSF partners volunteers and donors to serve the needs of our community. Our volunteers serve in various community initiatives such as ComLink and KidSTART, which were established to meet the needs of lower-income families with young children. They are also active in the Partners Engaging and Empowering Rough Sleepers (PEERS) network, and the Vulnerable-In-Community (VIC) network – which engage and support vulnerable persons such as rough sleepers, tissue sellers and cardboard collectors.
2 MSF works with donors to channel their donations through Community Chest, which supports more than 200 programmes run by more than 80 social service agencies. Their contributions are matched to specific funding needs in the social service sector – covering areas such as children with special needs, youth-at-risk, adults with disabilities, lower-income seniors, families-in-need and persons with mental health conditions. Their efforts are vital as we work together to meet the needs of those who need help, and to build a caring society.
3 There are three key steps that MSF takes to match volunteers and donors to the needs in the community. First, we engage our community partners and the clients we serve, to map out and identify specific community needs. Next, we speak with potential volunteers and donors to gauge their interest in working with MSF to address these needs. We will then proceed with the matching once there is alignment between the identified need and the volunteer’s or donor’s areas of interest. As new needs in the community arise, we will continue to engage and encourage potential volunteers and donors to contribute accordingly.
4 When MSF comes across volunteers and donors who are interested to contribute in areas beyond MSF’s purview, we will link them up with the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), or the SG Cares Office.
5 MSF is committed to providing meaningful giving experiences for our volunteers and donors. We recognise that many Singaporeans have expressed their desire to be more involved in efforts – in caring for those in need. The Ministry is currently looking at ways to enhance the matching process for our volunteers and donors, and will provide more details once these initiatives are ready.
6 In the meantime, we encourage all who are interested to volunteer in the social service sector to visit MSF’s page at volunteer.sg and NVPC’s giving.sg website. They may also physically approach any SG Cares Volunteer Centre for assistance. Those who would like to donate can also approach the Community Chest for the latest giving opportunities in the social service sector.