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MSF Dedicates 2023 To Celebrating Social Service Partners

Type: Ministry Updates

Topic(s): Events

Published on 27 January 2023

At the annual Volunteer and Partner Awards ceremony (MVPA) today, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli announced 2023 as the Year of Celebrating Social Service Partners. The Year of Celebrating Social Service Partners will recognise the integral contributions of partners from within and beyond the social service sector who work with us and with each other to build strong families and a caring society.

2.         These partners include social service practitioners and agencies, corporates and social enterprises, volunteers and donors, as well as academics and educators. The Year of Celebrating Social Service Partners will build on the momentum of the Year of Celebrating SG Families in 2022 and Year of Celebrating SG Women in 2021.

3.         Mr Masagos said: “As we continue to honour and encourage our partners in this Year of Celebrating Social Service Partners, I hope that these awards will serve to inspire our social service agencies, businesses, social enterprises, community partners and volunteers. I encourage all to partner MSF in this effort by joining the MSFCare Network.”

4.         The MVPA honours the passion and dedication of MSF’s partners, volunteers, and organisations who have made significant contributions to our programmes or causes. This year, 360 volunteers and partners were recognised.

5.         The top award, the Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award, was presented to Mdm Sartha, who is one of Singapore’s longest-serving foster parents. She has been a foster parent for more than 45 years and has cared for 12 children.

6.         Mdm Sartha’s resilience and commitment has given her foster children a chance to experience warmth and love that a stable and strong family can provide, and to thrive in a nurturing home environment. One of her ex-foster youths who has special needs continues to be under her care, despite having aged out of the foster care system after turning 18. Mdm Sartha’s service as a foster parent has even inspired her son to become a foster parent himself.

7.         Among the awards given out this year were one Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award, 11 Outstanding Volunteer Awards, 52 Friends of MSF Awards, 46 Community Cares Awards and 250 Long Service Awards.  

8.         Some of the social service partners and volunteers recognised this year are:

  • Mr Chew Kwee San (Outstanding Volunteer Award), who has been volunteering with ComChest since 2012. He has been serving as Vice-Chairman since 2014, as well as leading the Sharity Sub-Committee as Chairman since 2015. In his role, Mr Chew develops various initiatives and programmes.

  • Good News Community Services (Friend of MSF Award), who is part of the Partners Engaging and Empowering Rough Sleepers (PEERS) Network. Good News Community Services (GNCS) identifies and provides support services to rough sleepers and operates shelters for them. GNCS also operates the first Joint Singles Scheme Operator-Run Pilot, launched December 2021, which allows singles to apply for rental housing without first having to find a flatmate.

  • Surbana Jurong (Community Cares Award), which has partnered the Social Service Office (SSO) actively to support lower-income families since 2020. Through various initiatives with the beneficiaries, they have managed to build rapport with them, and helped to effectively roll-out programmes to address the various issues that families of lower-income households are facing. Surbana Jurong (SJ) also imparted valuable skills to beneficiaries through e-storytelling programmes, while also working with SSOs to curate more programmes for children living in rental flats.

  • SP Group (Community Cares Award), has been a consistent supporter of KidSTART Singapore Ltd. SP Group contributed $1 million to KidSTART Singapore in 2021 to provide much-needed learning and child development materials to lower-income families. SP volunteers, known as SP Heart Workers, also participated in the packing and distribution of these items for the families. SP has reaffirmed its support to KidSTART Singapore with another contribution of $1.1 million in 2022 towards the new KidSTART Stories initiative to foster early childhood literacy. SP Group is committed to sustained giving and meeting the needs of the community with meaningful and lasting impact. Beyond donations, SP Heart Workers also volunteer throughout the year, with various organisations including TOUCH Community Services in Geylang Bahru to benefit seniors in that area.

 

Details of the award winners are in the Annex.

The partners and volunteers received their awards today at a ceremony hosted by Mr Masagos at the Suntec City Convention Centre.

 

ISSUED BY MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT

Annex:  MVPA release final