As the year came to a close, we took the time to reflect upon ourselves and our lives. We found out that in Singapore, cancer is the number one cause of death, accounting for about 30% of all deaths1. In fact, 30 people2 are diagnosed with cancer every day.

As cancer not only affects the patients, their families, children or relatives, we lent our hands to support those in need in the simplest possible but most practical way, Fundraising. Children from all Mulberry Learning Centres participated in this island-wide fundraising event known as the “Joy of Giving”, to raise funds and awareness for cancer patients from the Singapore Cancer Society.

As part of the preparation for the event, the children learned about the pains and troubles of the beneficiaries and how this money would help. In addition, we held rehearsals to ensure that the children would know how to correctly approach the public. Finally, the children also spent a great deal of time, thanking the public for their donations via the giving out of elaborately decorated personalized Thank You cards.

The charity drive was a commendable occasion for the Mulberry children to put into good use their communication skills, when interacting with the general public to ask for donations and / or selling of bears.

Through the selling of consignment bears and collections of numerous donations during the month long charity drive, the children raised a grand total of $11,351.70 for the cancer patients. The children all felt great as they were able to contribute to the community despite their young tender ages and are looking forward to do the same every year.