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How we reimagined community volunteering for the National Day Heartland Celebrations
Plate with Purpose reimagined community volunteering through a familiar, distinctly Singaporean lens. By combining playful storytelling, improv interactions, and an interactive AR experience, the activation helped make volunteering feel approachable, inclusive, and relevant across generations.
The mission
In partnership with the People’s Association, our mission was to reframe how community volunteering is perceived, moving it away from something formal or intimidating, and towards something accessible, meaningful, and distinctly Singaporean.
Through the National Day Heartland Celebrations, we sought to:
- Make awareness of community volunteering fun and memorable across generations
- Show that purposeful, values-driven volunteering can still be light-hearted and inclusive
- Highlight stories of everyday role-model volunteers contributing to their communities
At its core, the project aimed to strengthen the idea that everyone has a role to play in building community, regardless of age, background, or prior volunteering experience.
The Brain Juice approach
We grounded the experience in something deeply familiar: food.
Titled “Plate with Purpose”, the activation drew inspiration from the quintessential Singaporean mixed rice experience — a shared cultural reference point that cuts across generations, languages, and communities.
Working with illustrators @PointyRice and @Caitofalltraits, we designed a mixed rice sticker booth where visitors could create a custom “plate” by choosing dishes that represented values they resonated with, such as care, resilience, service, and inclusion. Each plate became a playful but personal expression of what giving back meant to them.
To bring the experience to life, we featured inclusive and diverse improv talents who stepped into the roles of mixed rice “aunties and uncles” and enthusiastic customers. These improvised interactions created warmth, humour, and approachability — turning casual passers-by into active participants. The experience was further enhanced through a custom Augmented Reality game, where visitors tilted their heads to respond to prompts and discover their Community Volunteer style. Designed to be intuitive and accessible, the game appealed to both children and seniors, reinforcing the message that everyone brings something unique to volunteering.
Alongside these interactive elements, we curated vibrant community storytelling that spotlighted diverse leaders and everyday Singaporeans contributing to the nation through service. Together, these touchpoints framed volunteering not as an obligation, but as a natural extension of who we are.
Our role
We supported the project across concept development, experience design, and on-ground activation.
Our role included:
- Conceptualising the “Plate with Purpose” activation anchored in local culture
- Designing the mixed rice sticker experience and value-based interaction flow
- Developing the Augmented Reality game to surface Community Volunteer styles in a playful way
- Curating and shaping community storytelling that highlighted diverse volunteer journeys
- Supporting talent casting and improvisation direction to ensure inclusive, engaging interactions
- Working closely with partners and stakeholders to deliver a cohesive experience across multiple locations
Throughout the project, we focused on creating an experience that felt joyful, welcoming, and easy to engage with, without diluting the underlying message of purposeful service.
Our impact
The National Day Heartland Celebrations activation achieved strong reach and engagement, contributing to People’s Association’s broader community engagement goals.
Key outcomes included:
- People’s Association exceeded KPIs for Community Volunteer sign-ups and hours pledged (achieved through a combination of programme efforts)
- Tens of thousands of residents engaged with the activation across five heartland locations and online
- Over 25 Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds were engaged as improv talents for the mixed rice sticker experience
Beyond the numbers, the activation helped position community volunteering as something approachable, inclusive, and rooted in everyday Singaporean life, reinforcing the idea that service can be both meaningful and joyful.
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