Joining hands with Redhill Gardens Residents’ Committee, Queenstown Secondary School organised our first Communal Lunch for 60 socially disadvantaged elderly residents in Redhill Close on 10th April 2010. The MP for Tanjong Pagar (Radin Mas) GRC, Mr. Sam Tan Chin Siong, supported the pupils and school by gracing the event.

The event was especially meaningful as our pupils from Secondary 2 Normal Academic and Normal Technical Stream were actively involved in this project starting from the pre-planning stage to the actual day event.

To bring about this Communal Lunch, the pupils set a fundraising stall at the school’s Annual Sports Meet on 10th March 2010, bringing in an amount of $600. The money was used to sponsor the food for the lunch.

At the planning stage, the menu of the Communal Lunch was looked into to ensure a well -balanced diet for the elderly. At the same time, the pupils also put their heart and time into planning a concert segment (including dances and even a juggling performance) to keep the old folks entertained. The lunch concluded with a drawing activity which saw the old folks and the pupils working together to produce a cross-generational art piece. At the end of the event, food rations bags which were packed by the pupils were distributed to the old folks.

The old folks certainly enjoyed the warm interaction with the pupils. The pupils, on the other hand, definitely learnt the value of resilience in overcoming the numerous challenges from the planning stages to the final execution of the project. They also learnt the art of listening and communicating with the elderly when they worked together with them during the drawing activity.