Calling for participants and mentors for Citibank-YMCA Youth For Causes 2008!
Make this year an unforgettable one by being a part of the highly acclaimed Citibank-YMCA Youth For Causes (YFC). A joint community initiative by Citibank and the YMCA of Singapore, YFC aims at being a catalyst to promote social entrepreneurship among youth aged 15 to 35 years in Singapore by providing them with seed funds and resources to execute their creative idea for the benefit of a Non-Profit Organisation of their choice. The programme has been a great success over the past 5 years, reaching out to more than 2 million people, mobilising 45,400 youth volunteers island-wide and raising more than S$2 million for various NPOs.
 
This year, 100 teams will be accepted into the programme and they will execute their plan over a period of 16 weeks from 1 June to 21 Sep 2008.  Best Team Awards will be given to the top teams, based on how best they leverage their seed money and resources. To sign up for selection, you may register online at http://www.youthforcauses.com/.

Mentors wanted! If you have a passion for community work and love to work with youth, we encourage you to sign up as a volunteer mentor to guide and befriend these young, aspiring social entrepreneurs. To sign up, please email your contact details to Mr Ho Wei Xin at yfc@ymca.org.sg by 30 Apr 2008. For more information, please contact Mr. Ho Wei Xin at 6586 2353 or email to yfc@ymca.org.sg.

YMCA Movie Premiere
The inaugural YMCA Movie Premiere will be launched on Monday, 16 June 2008 at the Golden Village Cinemas, Vivo City. Featuring the 2008 big screen remake of the hit 1960’s spy parody television show, “Get Smart”, the funds raised from this event will be channelled to support the YMCA-Lim Kim San Volunteers Programme. Through this programme, YMCA will be able to actively promote volunteerism to increase its current base of active volunteers, develop their skills through training programmes, such as the YMCA-NUS Business School Volunteer Service Management Programme. and recognize the volunteers for their services by acknowledging and awarding them during annual Volunteers Appreciation functions. His Excellency, President S.R Nathan will grace the event as the Guest-of-Honour.

From 16 April to 23 April, a booth will be set up outside the Golden Village theatres at Vivo City to promote this event to the public and handle public enquiries. For more details about the YMCA Movie Premiere, please visit our website or email to Geok Wah at geokwah@ymca.org.sg.

Calling all YMCA Full Members!
All YMCA Full Members are invited to the YMCA Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday, 13 May 2008. As a Full Member, you are an integral part of the Y, and your presence at the meeting is vital to the continued pursuit of our mission of touching lives and lifting spirits. In accordance with the YMCA Constitution, all Full (Voting) Members are able to nominate a Full Life Member of the YMCA of Singapore to stand for election into the YMCA Board. Please kindly download the nomination form and send it back to us by 28 April 2008. To register for the AGM, please contact Angeline Tan at 6586 2252 or email her at angelinetan@ymca.org.sg.

Confidence Building on High Ropes
On 16 February, a group of Y Volunteers accompanied the beneficiaries of Pertapis Children’s Home to the SHINES Outdoor Camp to take on the intermediate ropes elements course. The outing was part of YMCA’s new Y Confidence programme that was launched in early 2008.
 
After a few ice breaking games, the volunteers and beneficiaries proceeded to embark on the highlight of the outing, the intermediate ropes elements course. Vicki, a Y Volunteer from Raffles Junior College, said “Although my buddy (a beneficiary) seemed a little indifferent at first, I’m glad I did not give up on her and continued to encourage her to push on. Despite her past, she eventually overcame her fears and completed the course. I was very proud of her especially when she actually volunteered to attempt the course for a second time !”

Y Confidence is tailored for challenged and special needs teens. This programme aims to help them develop their self-confidence through various confidence building activities. If you are interested in volunteering with the Y Confidence programme, you can sign up as the next batch of volunteers for the July to December 2008 period. You are required to commit once a month (3rd Saturday) for at least 7 hours. To sign up, please contact Eileen Su at eileensu@ymca.org.sg or 6586 2344.

YMCA Project Bridge Boys in SYFC Soccer Tournament
On 12 and 14 March, YMCA Project Bridge fielded two teams, ‘Braveheart’ and ‘Fearless’ in a mini soccer tournament organized by Singapore Youth For Christ (SYFC). Leading the teams as their manager was Mr. Hsu Hsia Yang, a full time Youth Counsellor serving at YMCA Project Bridge.

Despite the muddy and water-logged field due to a recent spell of heavy rains, both teams played very well and finished within the top four positions of their group. Even though they did not win the tournament, they had great fun both on and off the field. All the players were also delighted to not go home empty handed when they received goodie with T-shirts, water bottles and CDs from the organizers at the end of the tournament.

YMCA Project Bridge is a programme for early school leavers and youth-at-risk that aims to guide them into returning to mainstream education as well as equipping them with the skills for employment.

Volunteers needed for Y Camp Challenge
The bi-annual Y Camp Challenge is uniquely designed to foster confidence, character and knowledge in our beneficiaries through various series of challenges. We are recruiting 150 be-frienders, five logistics assistants, five photographers and one videographer with the knowledge of editing. If you are interested in any of the above, please email Eileen Su at eileensu@ymca.org.sg or call 65862344 should you have further enquires.

Do you have the passion to serve the needy overseas?
If you do, YMCA International Service Programmes (ISP) would like to invite you to join us in extending a helping hand to the under-privileged community in China and Cambodia. Programmes such as refurbishing libraries, canteens, classrooms, repairing roads, teaching English, arts and music are organised. We hope through these programmes we could improve the children’s quality of life and to help them break out of the poverty cycle. We will like to encourage you to form a team with your friends, colleagues or church members and join us for this meaningful service. If you like to touch the lives of others abroad, please feel free to email Shu Ling at shuling@ymca.org.sg.