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TOUCH Report 2008CorporateHighlightsChinese New Year Project2008 got off with a good start with the Chinese New Year Project raising atotal of $234,900 –- a 42% increase compared to the previous year. TOUCHcontinued to receive strong partnerships from 18 primary and secondary schoolswith 23,000 students doing their part for the needy through their Hong Baodonation.The Chinese New Year celebration also saw strong volunteer communityinvolvement. For example, in January, 33 volunteers from Centre for StrategicInfocomm Technologies attended a wheelchair management training session,organised by TOUCH Home Care (THC), to equip staff with the expertise andskills in guiding 22 frail elderly clients of THC to a Chinese restaurant for areunion dinner. Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) also hosted 90elderly from TOUCH Seniors Activity Centre to a Chinese New Year reuniondinner in February.Appreciating mothers through Love in aBouquetHeld for the second year, Love in a Bouquet, a fund-raising project organised byTOUCH, saw $20,500 being raised for the services and programmes of TOUCHYoung Arrows (TYA) which serves some 300 children. The project aimed topay tribute to the mothers of the children from TYA. Many of these childrencome from single-parent or low-income families and do not have the means tocelebrate Mother’s Day.On 10 May, some 220 mothers received sponsored bouquets of flowers fromtheir children. 23 pairs of mother and child were invited to attend a Tea Partyco-organised by TOUCH and Mayflower Primary School. The mothers were allsmiles when they received bouquets of flowers from their children. The studentsof the school were also involved in song and musical performances to engageand entertain the audience.Involvement in national campaign tostrengthen marriagesTOUCH Family Services (TFS), an affiliate of TOUCH Community Services,and an advocate of strong families and marriages, was involved in “We areMarried!” – an initiative of the National Family Council and the Ministry ofCommunity Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). TOUCH contributed to“We are Married!” in three ways: as organiser of Family Festival and Train-the-Trainers workshops, and as an event partner of the Marriage Convention.Held for the fifth year, the Family Festival saw some 700 busy working adultsattending lunchtime talks in the Central Business District. Key speakers sharedenriching insights on topics, such as couple communication, sexual intimacy inmarriage and managing finances as a couple.In its effort to equip current professionals and facilitators in the area of marriagecounselling, education and mentoring, TFS also conducted Train-the-Trainersworkshops in English and Mandarin, which were oversubscribed and attendedby some 120 participants.