In December 2009, Ngee Ann Polytechnic was our first school partner to take the concept of our annual Tree of Life into their campus.

They set up a small Christmas tree at Makan Place, their all-time favourite foodie hangout. It was decorated not with the usual tinsel balls, but rather photo cards of needy children from Asia awaiting sponsorship.

Additionally, lecturers and students had an option of either purchasing practical, meaningful and life-altering gifts from our gift catalogue or giving a donation of any amount to meet the most basic and urgent needs of children and families around the world.

Given the duration of 3 weeks, they managed to raise a total of $3,500 and got 13 new sponsors on board.

The other partnership we had with Ngee Ann Polytechnic was with 12 students, who undertook the module Innovation and Enterprise in Action. They were tasked to do an environmental project with a community angle to promote recycling in a creative way.

After 5 months of hard work, they finally mounted a 1.69-metre illuminated replica of a Yakult bottle pieced together using 6,000 empty sponsored Yakult bottles.

This installation was entered into the Singapore Book of Records as the tallest and largest Yakult bottle. In conjunction with this event, students of Ngee Ann Polytechnic were encouraged to “donate” recyclable materials such as paper products and bottles etc.

The proceeds from the sale of the Yakult bottles and recyclable materials were channelled to World Vision to support children and families living in poverty.