Three young children, one common goal. Acts of compassion and service are slowly but surely growing among young children.
Mr Andrew Yeo with daughter, Charlotte Yeo.
While packing up her room one day, 9-year-old Charlotte Yeo suggested donating her toys – some of which were new – to charity. That was when her father, Andrew Yeo, suggested holding a garage sale instead, in conjunction with her C for Charity project.
C for Charity was initiated by Andrew, who wishes to inculcate the spirit of volunteerism into Charlotte. Funds will be raised through activities calling for donations (e.g. rollerblading for 10km), garage sales, bake sales, and sale of crafts such as handmade jewellery or slime.
The father-daughter duo aims to raise $1,000 for Club Rainbow by the end of this year. “$1,000 isn’t a lot, but it is something I would like to start my daughter with,” Andrew said.
As a young girl, Charlotte already practices empathy to those who are less fortunate than her. She believes that no form of help is too little, as long as it makes an impact on others’ lives.
The rollerblading enthusiast has taken a page out of her father’s book, as Andrew also strongly believes in volunteerism. “Many of us live in a very comfortable world in Singapore. Sometimes we do forget that there are those who need more help than others,” Andrew shared.
Charlotte is just one of many children who have come forward to support their less fortunate counterparts. Zoe, who is 9 years old as well, raised $3,000 from her self-initiated fundraising campaign where she baked cookies and created arts and crafts items to gift donors.
Zoe Tan, 9-year-old raised funds through baked cookies. She created arts and crafts items to gift donors.
“There is so much we can do to support the less fortunate children and those whose family has to carry a great burden to work for hard-earned money and has to instead pay for school fees, medical expenses and much more,” Zoe said.
“She has learnt a lot about the different types of needs and difficulties that children and families might experience, as well as different ways in which one could be of service to others,” Zoe’s mum shared.
Raising money, let alone a 6-digit sum, may seem like an almost impossible feat to young children who have barely passed the first decade of their lives.
10-year-old Chng Rui Jie raised a combined sum of $250,000 for beneficiaries of various charities, most significantly, rabbits.
According to Channel News Asia, SPCA and Care Singapore are among the 18 organisations Rui Jie has helped raised funds for.
To date, Rui Jie has raised $6000 for Club Rainbow through her online campaign - ‘I Pray for Hope’.
Her campaign frenzy was ignited by her desire to help hungry rabbits, and her most successful campaign thus far raised more than $56,000 for Primary One to Two children as part of The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.
Titled “I Pray for Hope”, the campaign Rui Jie started for Club Rainbow raised $6,000 to date.
“As a young girl, I think rainbows represent hope, and everyone should have a chance to receive and experience hope.”
All the money raised for Club Rainbow will be used to finance our children’s weekly therapy services, development programmes and provide financial assistance for their families.
If you are inspired and excited to start your first fundraising campaign, do contact us at crscpm@clubrainbow.org, and we will be happy to assist you.
Your efforts will be doubled as part of the Fortitude Budget, where the government is matching donations to charities dollar-for-dollar till 31 March 2022.