Organised annually, this year’s YCMC 2010 theme was “ChangeMakers in Action!” It was held from 23 to 24 October 2010 at Republic Polytechnic. HMS students was exposed to various avenues and means to volunteer at the conference and gained skills to implement community projects. 

Here are some sharings:

"We learnt that it is necessary set objectives for publicity ideas as well as evaluate carefully. After brainstorming ideas, we presented them to the panelists for grant assessment to secure approval for our ideas. The presentation was interesting as we had the opportunity to experience a live simulation of how planning a community project works and how it is approved and evaluated. We learned that it is important to have people who have different strengths in planning a project such as creating new ideas and time keeping so that the project will be successful."
 
- Arifah, Glenn, Jahnavi, Natalie, Winston

"We attended a workshop by Disabled People's Association (DPA), which aims to raise awareness about the disabled in Singapore and encourage the public to be more empathetic instead of being sympathetic towards the disabled. The following day we joined an amazing race where we had the chance to experience what the disabled people are facing. Each of us had to be ‘disabled’ in different ways, such as being blindfolded, acting as a mute, or sitting on a wheelchair to get around different parts of Singapore. This activity made us more aware of the difficulties faced by the disabled, such as the lack of lifts and ramps to cater to their needs."

- Denise, Muslihah, Philip, Rachel


"The Voluntary Welfare Organisation which we worked with was 4PM (Malay Youth Literary Association), which mentored children and teens and distribute food to the needy. Our mission was to come up with plans to recruit 1,000 mentors for their children with a budget of $500. Our strategy was to educate the public on what it is like to be a mentor through six different games that would demonstrate to the meaning of being a mentor: M(e)E(xiting)N(urture)T(each)O(Observant) R(elationship). We faced obstacles along the way but as a team - together with the facilitators and the organisation, we overcame the challenges. Although we did not recruit the targeted 1,000 mentors, we left for the closing ceremony with a new friends and an enriching experience."

- Afiqah, Hema, Humairah, Shannon, Zhi Xiong

"'A social entrepreneur does not ask for permission, rather, he or she asks for forgiveness instead’. For us Business and Social Enterprise (BZSE) students, this phrase simply summarises the nature of our work which is to experiment and implement ideas that has never been done before – the YCMC gave us a chance to do just that. The conference taught us the workings of the social service sector and gave us the chance to step out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves to do something out of the norm in order to benefit the needy people in society."

- Basil, Jun Hao, Song Jie, Varun