SHEN Hearts Take 2 - Old Folks Home Christmas Party
With Christmas around the corner, SHEN Hearts, the community service section of SHEN, decided to arrange a visit to 上海市第四福利院 on 20 Dec 2008 to share the christmas joy. More than 20 members from SHEN, along with 16 Ngee Ann Polytechnic students made their way down to SheShan district early in the morning, armed with gifts ready to spread the festive joy. The gifts were kindly sponsored by Pivot Marketing, an events company based in Shanghai. The director of Pivot Marketing, Ms. Rachel Ee-Heilemann told us that the company was more than happy to be able to do its part for the community, and spread the Christmas cheer to the folks at the home. The gifts included some small tidbits, as well as craft materials for the seniors to enjoy at their free time. Among the visitors was also an entrepreneur based in Shanghai, Mr Joseph Constanty, CEO of Next networking company in Shanghai. Joseph expressed his delight to be able to be involved in this meaningful activity, spreading the joy of Christmas to the seniors in the home.
The day started off with Mandarin Christmas carols, performed by the visitors to the home. It was a heartwarming session, with the seniors clapping to the songs, singing along with the visitors to the home. After several carols were performed, it was the senior’s time to share what they have prepared for the visitors. To our delightful surprise, the seniors sang English Carols. The crowd was thoroughly impressed and everyone had a wonderful time singing to ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ among many other classic Christmas carols. The seniors also performed for the volunteers. They sang English songs, played harmonica and even sang Chinese poems for us!
Following this Sing-a-long, there was a Chinese Opera performance, 沪剧 for the enjoyment of both the seniors and the visitors of opera unique to Shanghai was performed by an opera troupe, also graciously sponsored by Pivot Marketing. This entertaining opening performance was a thoughtful gesture to the both the visitors and folks at the Seniors Home.
After a morning of performances, the seniors of the home were gathered into smaller
groups, where the visitors guided them in making some handicrafts, and also taking the opportunity to have more intimate interactions with each other. In line with the theme of Christmas, the seniors all made a Christmas sock each, which was later stuffed with little gifts brought to the home by the visitors. Everyone had a fruitful and meaningful time together, getting to know each other better, while sharing the joy of Christmas. 10th SHEN is honored to have the opportunity to share this experience with many others in Shanghai.We would like to express our appreciation the students of Ngee Ann Polytechnic for their enthusiasm and company, Mr. Joseph Constanty for taking time off to partake in this activity, Pivot Marketing for their generosity, and most importantly, 上海市第四福利院, for graciously opening their home, playing hosts to all of us. We look forward to a lot more of such meaningful times together here, in Shanghai.
