Courts donates $17,000 worth of digital appliances to children in need
Primary Five pupil Mohammad Rudy Faris Mohammad Hairul was excited to learn that he will now be able to complete his school projects using tablets and laptops, which he does not have at home.
The 11-year-old boy is one of 380 kids from low-income households under local charity Care Community Services Society (CCSS), which yesterday received $17,000 worth of digital appliances from Courts for its child beneficiaries to use and to promote digital literacy and e-learning in the classroom, as well as furniture for CCSS administrative offices.
Ahead of Deepavali, the local retailer of home electronics, IT and furniture products reached out to CCSS for the third Courts Charity Home, which connects the company's corporate social responsibility efforts with underprivileged communities during festive periods.
FIRST TIME
This is the first time Courts is reaching out to children, fulfilling the digital learning needs of four CareHut student care centres CCSS operates in Singapore.
Twenty-six Courts employees volunteered yesterday, spending a half-day session at one of the CareHut centres in New Town Primary School.
The 80 children present got to enjoy e-learning classes using the newly-donated digital devices and a cultural learning session where some volunteers shared their experiences celebrating Deepavali, followed by a crafting session where the children learned to make traditional rangoli artworks.
One of the volunteers, Courts salesman Sunchu Hariprasad, 24, told The New Paper: "When I signed up for this event, I was not expecting this at all. The kids were so full of energy and attentive. It was an extremely fulfilling experience teaching them about Deepavali."
He will be spending the Festival of Lights alone this year as his wife and 11-month-old son are back home in India.
"Teaching these kids today really made me miss him. But it makes me more excited to volunteer for the next event," he said.
CCSS executive director Dewin Lee said: "The average Singaporean may be able to afford luxury electronics like iPads but the majority of these kids can't.
"Courts has eased the burden for us and has enabled us to make these kids more comfortable by letting them have access to gadgets their peers might have at home but they might not."
Ms Tammy Teo, Courts Singapore's director of marketing, added: "For Deepavali, we worked with the schools to establish their needs in creating a digitally-ready classroom and are happy to see the IT devices being well used today.
"We were also heartened, as a mass home products retailer, to be able to provide basics for the children's well-being, such as thermometers and hairdryers."
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