He was diagnosed with Leukaemia at the age of 16. Both his parents lost their jobs earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of this, he needed to take on two jobs to make ends meet to support his family.
Whatever curveball life throws at 23-year-old Nazri Arshad, he takes swing at it by living life to the fullest and finding time to give back to the community.
“Volunteerism is something I hold dear to my heart,” said Nazri, who is a nEbO leader and a pastry & baking student at ITE College West.
His latest contribution to the community was to lead the Bake for Good initiative to bake cookies for beneficiaries of NTUC Health for the year-end season’s greetings.
Bake for Good is a youth-led initiative by nEbO.
Nazri was joined by 10 other nEbO youths who worked in shifts to bake the cookies on 19 December 2020 from 1pm to 5pm, with strict adherence to safe management measures.
nEbO partnered with Downtown East’s newest tenant, RedMan Shop by Phoon Huat, which sponsored the ingredients and provided a chef to guide the youths during the baking process.
The batch of 300 cookies the volunteers made were delivered to various eldercare facilities and beneficiaries of NTUC Health on 21 December 2020.
Second Minister for Finance and Education Indranee Rajah and NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng joined the nEbO youths to deliver a batch of cookies to NTUC Health Senior Activity Centre (Bukit Merah).
“Although there are fewer volunteering events this year due to COVID-19, most of the youths I spoke to are still keen to continue volunteering, through indirect or other creative means.
“I’m glad to witness the care within this big family of NTUC – that in addition to inculcating the do good spirit among our youth community, we are also spreading the love by giving to the needy and elderlies at our senior activity centers. I hope that they can feel the warmth of our gesture during this year-end season,” said Mr Ng.
Nazri had also led a similar initiative earlier this year where he baked and sent cookies during Hari Raya to families who were affected by COVID-19.
He even helped his delivery rider friends earn extra income by getting them to assist with the delivery.
Nazri said he is glad that nEbO has given him the opportunity to use his skills to give back to the community.
On why he wants to volunteer despite having to face some struggles himself, Nazri said: “Everyone goes through their own struggles, and I am simply doing what I can to help others feel better, especially during these times.”
