CS2023: The Young Artist Behind The Design

Palette to mix and match

As Club Rainbow’s very own young artist, Jonas has drawn many pieces of artwork and created figures using clays during his free time. Artworks Jonas and his brothers, Lucas and Titus have created over the years have added more colours and uniqueness to the house. As much as he loves all his artworks, names were made for some of his artworks such as a sunflower clay he created. According to his mother, the first piece of artwork created by Jonas was at the age of four and he has been constantly creating pieces of art since then.

Jonas managed to have his artworks exhibited in an exhibition through his school. Not just that, he was also featured in a lifestyle magazine for his artwork. Happiness was reflected on Jonas’ mum’s face as she shared about his achievements and milestones. As the artist of the design that was printed on Travel 2.0: The Travel Organiser, Jonas is the first person to unbox it (Catch the release of the video on Club Rainbow’s Youtube Channel!). The Travel Organiser is a 6-piece set that comes in grey with the design printed in yellow. The designs are small icons Jonas created, including earth, flowers, a blue recycle bin, trees, etc.

Being a recipient of the CRS Talent Development Fund (TDF), Jonas was offered the opportunity to discover his abilities and gradually develop his skills throughout his journey with CRS, attaining accomplishments in the Arts. The fund supports art workshops, and programmes, giving him the lead in assignment opportunities.

For more details on Travel 2.0: The Travel Organiser, visit our Charity Merchandise page.

Innovative Event Management That Gives Back

As part of the vocational development programme, Club Rainbow organised a bake sale earlier this year, in which our beneficiaries and caregivers participated to gain new skills and earn supplementary income.

Dream Station, a local events management and production company, contributed to the sale of baked goods by purchasing items from our beneficiaries. When asked why they chose to support us, they explained that their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) arm has the vision to collaborate with charitable organisations like Club Rainbow and to promote sustainability in their events. At the time, their client's CSR programme mandated that the items in their event's goodie bags have a CSR angle, and since it was around Chinese New Year, Dream Station had the idea of sourcing edible goodies to fit the theme. In addition, they also supported two other non-profit organisations (NPOs) besides Club Rainbow.

Dream Station initiated its CSR programme in 2020 and has been actively helping the community. During the Covid-19 pandemic, they provided hygiene packs containing masks and hand sanitisers to foreign workers living in dormitories and donated excess mask stocks to other non-profit organisations. They focus on in-kind contributions and efforts to give back to the community. Dream Station suggests that clients use services offered by charitable organisations and does not charge mark-ups or surcharges if clients decide to engage them. For example, from packing goodie bags to delivering them, it is passed on a cost-to-cost basis, which is atypical of events management companies that usually charge mark-ups for such services. Dream Station offers such angles to all their clients, especially MNCs with their own CSR arms, and the uptake by their clients depends on the business angle. However, Dream Station tries to push for the engagement of charitable organisations.

After emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, Dream Station plans to restart its CSR efforts, focusing on giving back to society by providing services to help and encourage giving back to the community. If they have excess logistics or stocks after organising events, they give them back to society for better utilisation.

Moving forward, one of the pillars of Dream Station's CSR efforts is sustainability, which aims to reduce the wastage of consumables by encouraging clients to use sustainable supplies. They also want to empower underprivileged employees by hiring freelance staff from lower-income families who have teenage kids or mature workers looking for part-time jobs, providing them with another source of income.

Dream Station will continue fundraising campaigns on the giving.sg platform and will be directly involved physically in fundraising events, such as sourcing in-kind sponsorships for events management to run carnivals. They will also focus on empowering the community, which aligns with what Club Rainbow is trying to achieve through the rollout of vocational programs that support caregivers and beneficiaries, providing them with supplementary income while reaffirming that their journey is not just to take care of people with special needs, but also to show that people with special needs can contribute to the community.

Into the fourth iteration of the programme, one of the CRS participants could work in a baking establishment based on their experience and certification gained from the programme. Club Rainbow is grateful to Dream Station for their support towards the Vocational Programme.

From Family to Society

Hean Lee is a distributor and wholesaler of handy electronic and electrical household products ranging from power adapters, portable fans, rice cookers, and many more. Its products, marketed under the Soundteoh Electronic brand, can be found on the shelves of major electronic retailers, including Giant Supermarkets, Best Denki, and Courts. The company has a sweeping presence in several Southeast Asian countries.

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Hean Lee's Director, Mr. Kelvin Lee, to find out more about the company's perspectives on corporate social responsibility following its first charity collaboration with Club Rainbow in conjunction with SG Cares Giving Week.  

“Everyone to think positively and cherish every day. We should always look forward to tomorrow as miracles could happen.”

— Mr Kelvin Lee, Director of Hean Lee

Founded in 1957 by old Mr. Lee Hian Cheong, Hean Lee is now managed by the third generation of the Lee family. Philanthropy has always been part of the family culture as old Mr Lee donated money to build schools, shelters, and roads in Xiamen, his hometown that he left at a young age to escape from the widespread poverty and famine in China. Mr Kelvin Lee and his brother wanted to continue the family legacy of giving back to society after they started helming Hean Lee. They did so mainly by creating and supplying products that they felt were in line with the latest technology to add convenience to users and by partnering with local businesses and communities to help build brand awareness.

Some of Hean Lee's corporate social responsibility efforts included cross-promotions with local businesses and the sponsorship of home-grown football team Geylang International FC. While Hean Lee used to focus mainly on supporting local brands, they made a slight pivot to focus more on people following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hean Lee donated valuable items such as face shields and portable fans to improve the working conditions of healthcare frontline workers who had to work in sweltering temporary medical setups.

In November 2021, Hean Lee partnered with Club Rainbow on a budding artist program as part of the SG Cares Giving Week. As a result, the artwork of an 11-year-old Club Rainbow beneficiary was chosen as the packaging design of Hean Lee's wireless AC-operated doorbell. Mr. Kelvin Lee found it an intriguing process as a business rarely collaborated with a charitable organisation on its product packaging. With the success of the first collaboration, Hean Lee was considering extending or launching similar partnerships with Club Rainbow in the future.  

Hean Lee sincerely hoped the collaboration could help create more awareness and support for Club Rainbow. Their efforts in corporate social responsibility also led to Soundteoh Electronic being awarded the Singapore Prestige Brand Award 2020/2021 Established Brand Award. When asked for words of encouragement for the young beneficiaries of Club Rainbow, Mr. Kelvin Lee encouraged everyone to think positively and cherish every day. We should always look forward to tomorrow as miracles could happen.

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Should your company or organisation wish to support our children and their families, please email us for a discussion: contact@clubrainbow.org

Choose to be Happy!

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy!”

Everybody tends to say this to someone having a wrong time, but what does happy mean? Is it that easy to be satisfied?

The word happy is generally defined as a feeling of pleasure or contentment. Such feelings could arise from something as simple as eating something delicious or seeing something beautiful; and can be immediately felt by a child who just got a new toy.

So, what do we do when we are having a bad day and finding it challenging to feel happy? Although we are told that it is fine to embrace our negative feelings, we could always go a step further by embracing those bad feelings and then taking action to exchange them for more positive thoughts. A bad day is no reason to ignore all other good parts of life. Many studies have linked happiness to health as a good mood helps us smile more, sleep better, and feel more energetic. 

One easy way to feel pleasure and contentment is to be thankful. I like to keep a gratitude journal to remind myself of things I am grateful for throughout the day. Small mundane things, like the bus arriving on time or remembering to bring an umbrella on a rainy day. By doing so, you will likely realise that you are luckier than you think. I also know someone who practices ‘gratitude hour’ where he spends an hour every Friday sending emails thanking people who helped him throughout the week.

Most people have also heard of the adage – It’s better to give than to receive. While rewarding ourselves, we must also remember that we are all capable of spreading happiness by building a more compassionate world and not forgetting the needy. You could start by gifting to those who need it or volunteering your time, as experiences provide a higher level of happiness than material items.

If there is one particular day each year where we should put in extra effort to purge all negative emotions from our system, that would be 20 March, also known as the International Day of Happiness. First celebrated on 20 March 2013, the United Nations General Assembly established the International Day of Happiness to make people worldwide realise the importance of happiness in their lives. Building on the idea, the United Nations also launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals aiming to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and protect our planet to make people’s lives happier. (More information can be found here: https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals)

Here at Club Rainbow, we hope that our beneficiaries can live as happily as possible despite the challenges they face in their lives. In conjunction with this year’s International Day of Happiness, we would appreciate your support for our efforts to make this world a better place for children in Singapore living with chronic illnesses. Actions matter, and you can make happiness a choice every day!

Written by: Tang Su Yen
Edited by: Club Rainbow (Singapore)

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We welcome volunteers to support our beneficiaries and passionate individuals who like to kickstart creative fundraising initiatives. Email us at crscpm@clubrainbow.org to start your journey with us today! Other ways you can be part of - https://www.clubrainbow.org/take-action.

Ride for Rainbows 2021: KrisShop

With less than one month away from Ride for Rainbows 2021, we want to thank our sponsors for supporting our 10th run of this fundraising event. One of the sponsors – KrisShop, Miss Raelene Johnson, Chief Commercial Officer, share their support for children with lifelong illnesses and their families.

When asked what about Club Rainbow (Singapore) strikes out for KrisShop, Miss Johnson responded without hesitation, 'Club Rainbow has a history spanning 30 years. Given the organisation's significant purpose-driven work in Singapore, it is almost impossible for a local entity like KrisShop not to be aware of their contributions in empowering children with chronic illnesses. We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Club Rainbow, knowing that our partnership can help make a difference, however small.'

Giving back to the community has always been one of the core drivers of their business, and most exemplified through their KrisShop Cares concept store on KrisShop.com. Miss Johnson shared enthusiastically with a smile, 'Given our heart for social causes, we jumped at the opportunity to support Club Rainbow when we heard from our partner, Singapore Airlines, that there was a way that we could do so meaningfully!'

Supporting different community collaborations over the years, Miss Johnson highlighted 'Key criterion that KrisShop has with working with nonprofit organisations is the alignment of values and vision'. She stated 'Integrity is a key value of Club Rainbow that mirrors ours. At KrisShop, we pride ourselves on being honest, transparent and committed to doing what's best for our customers and our company.'. Another one of Club Rainbow's values that resonates strongly with KrisShop is empowering individuals to achieve their full potential - an aspect that KrisShop seeks to accomplish daily with their employees and even partners.

Miss Johnson struck a chord with other local entities when she expressed …

Read more - https://bit.ly/2Xg4z0G

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For Ride for Rainbows 2021, KrisShop is sponsoring a limited edition SIA mahjong set featuring the airline’s iconic batik motif and flight-related elements on the tiles. If you haven't sign up, you have till 26 September to register, qualify and stand a chance to walk away with this limited edition! - https://www.rideforrainbows.org.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Generally, CSR is an avenue for companies to contribute back to society by engaging in various aspects – medical, environmental, the marginalized, etc. I wonder if there could be more connection than that…

After much deliberation, my interpretation of CSR has gone in a more digestible way of looking at corporate as a community of like-minded individuals working towards the vision and mission of the company. With this, curiosity led me to thinking:

Community coming together in a Social environment and Relating to their peers who could or know someone who might be facing challenges beyond the norm.

This could be one way of looking at CSR at eye level (employees) apart from a top view (corporate).

What is the difference?

One is a corporate initiative as part of the business directive to inculcate a business and social giving culture, while the other approach is to encourage the employees to take the lead of social giving culture within an organisation, thus, forming an integrated CSR approach making the corporate and employees within into a CSR partnership for the community beyond the company.

Article by
Rachel Valerie Fernandez

Fun-Filled Kris Kringles

Kris Kringles with our corporate partners and interest groups…

Fun and laughter with Closerstill Media

Ho! Ho! Ho! 

Everyone's favorite Santa at RedHat

Tea Cake Baking &  Decoration  Workshop with  ABR Holding Ltd

Family of Harley  Davidson owners  sharing their  love...

Make a Wish with Trip Advisor!

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Contact Ernest @ 98597249 or ernest@clubrainbow.org to find out more on opportunities and ideas to collaborate with us!