It was a day filled with thanksgiving at Club Rainbow’s Caregivers Appreciation Day, where our caregivers were appreciated for their efforts. Held at the Orchid Country Club this year, more than 200 people graced the occasion.
Club Rainbow’s caregivers started off the day with a short research questionnaire conducted by PhD student Tay Yi Ling. The next segment was yoga and relaxation exercises led by volunteer Lee Jialing, a freelance yoga instructor. All the caregivers participated in the exercises spontaneously and were glad to stretch out and relieve any sore muscles.
After the morning exercise, the caregivers were then introduced to the “SNTC Trusteeship Scheme”, a talk by Esther Tan, General Manager of Special Needs Trust Company (SNTC). The talk covered what a trust is and how caregivers can go about setting up a trust with SNTC to manage the finances for a child with special needs. The talk included nominations of CPF accounts, insurance policies and gifts assets through their will to the trust fund.
While our caregivers were engaged in the various activities, the Rainbow children and youth designed dream-catchers and bookmarks for them. Led by a team of “Operation Hope” student volunteers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), they brought out the creative side in each child. In addition, the kids had a whale of a time participating in songs, games, and dance.
After a busy morning of activities for parents and children, a savory buffet spread awaited everyone. During lunchtime, the children presented their special hand-decorated gifts to their caregivers, contributing to the warm atmosphere.
Both parents and youth then attended a stimulating workshop called “You Can Love Your Life” by Sara Varela, Founder and Chief Positivity Officer of Positive Living. Ms. Varela shared eight secrets to change fear into gratitude, forgiveness, peace and joy. She also taught how parents needed to love and care for themselves while taking care of their children. The workshop also gave them the opportunity to mingle and interact with other caregivers. Following which, several parents were motivated into sharing their personal stories and challenges.
The children had the pick of three different afternoon workshops – first, attending a music workshop conducted by My Musical Chamber where they were enchanted by the songs, dances and musical instruments! Thereafter, they entered the world of Lego in a Lego Building Workshop conducted by Bricks 4 Kidz. The teens joined the Abracadabra Magic Workshop by International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM). They picked up several magic tricks using materials such as rubber bands and papers. Each of them had learnt something new to show their family and friends at the end of that day.
