Care and Support - Being There For Your Child

Featuring 2022 Exemplary Caregiver Awardee, Mdm Junnie Lim

Mdm Junnie Lim, is the mother of Ashley, 19, and has been awarded the Exemplary Caregiver Award for taking care of Ashley. Mdm Lim works full-time, juggling her time to take care of her two daughters both with chronic illnesses.

Ashley began having chronic migraines 4 years ago and was diagnosed with small fibre neuropathy, Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS) and Sjogren’s syndrome. Due to a lack of medical information locally and general awareness of Sjogren’s syndrome, an accurate prognosis regarding how Ashley’s case can be effectively treated or cured remains unclear.

When Mdm Lim takes care of Ashley, she shares that as a parent, it is brutal to endure seeing her daughter in pain every day. For Ashley, her condition warrants the use of a port-a-cath.

It has been very tiring for Mdm Lim over the years, constantly worrying for her daughters. They also started to plan for Ashley’s worst-case scenario during surgery. While death plans have always lurked in her mind since she has 2 daughters with chronic conditions, her younger daughter has 2 liver transplant surgeries which have given Mdm Lim the will to fight till the end for her daughter.

Mdm Lim shares that she finds the most joy when they have their family trips together. She finds that it provides quality family bonding time, clear from any digital distractions which lets them truly spend time with each other. She enjoys their travel together in December and always looks forward to it because, to her, no amount of money can buy their meaningful time together. During their vacations, Mdm Lim always plans ahead by seeking out the nearest hospital in case of emergencies and is prepared at all times.

Thanks to Club Rainbow, Mdm Lim has managed to get both financial and emotional support. Mdm Lim first came to know Club Rainbow 16 years ago through 2 doctors, who acted as her pillars of support, when she felt at her wits’ end as she learned that her younger daughter had biliary atresia (a congenital chronic disease where the bile ducts are blocked or too narrow). The Club Rainbow social workers made her feel like family as they helped her through the emotional roller coaster. Club Rainbow has also supported her financially for her younger daughter’s first liver transplant when she had difficulties raising the pre-surgery deposit and once again when her younger daughter underwent a second liver transplant.

Mdm Lim wants to tell the world that not every sickness has a cure, but that is not the end of the world. Not every parent has a smooth journey and she hopes that everyone has more empathy and sympathy toward parents who are going through tough journeys with children suffering from chronic illnesses and undiagnosed conditions. She believes parents with special needs children should tell their story to the world because if parents can talk about it publicly, they can destigmatise their child’s condition and create awareness. Being embarrassed does not help the child and certainly not those around them because those who have not journeyed with the parents will not understand how much the family has endured and how they can help.

Despite all odds in her circumstances, Ashley has stood her ground and fought her illness with positivity and resilience. She currently provides free tuition to children along the borders of Myanmar and Thailand and has registered for the Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) programme. Aspiring to be a social worker to give back to society, she applied for a psychology course at a Polytechnic, which she was accepted into. As we admire Ashley’s never-say-die attitude and wish her all the best, we hope you share her story with your friends and family to raise awareness and support Ashley and her family in their journey.

Celebrating Heroes 2022

Watch the Exemplary Caregiver Video - click here

Ride for Rainbows 2022 and 30th Anniversary Birthday Bash

Club Rainbow (Singapore)’s biggest event of the year, Ride for Rainbows 2022 and the 30th Anniversary Birthday Bash have successfully concluded on 27 November 2022.

The physical Ride for Rainbows is back after being virtual for 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic!

In conjunction with Club Rainbow (Singapore)’s 30th Anniversary, this year's edition for Ride for Rainbows is met with a hybrid format, giving our riders the flexibility to participate in a physical or virtual ride. We also had a birthday bash carnival with a tons of carnival games and rides at the end of the physical ride to celebrate this very special day and spend a fun filled day with our beneficiaries and their families!

On that day, there were over 600 participants and volunteers who turned up at Marina Barrage. This includes 78 families, close to 200 riders and over 100 staff and volunteers.

With that, we would like to take this opportunity to express our utmost gratitude to all our supporting parties, including our beneficiaries and their families, sponsors, riders, donors, staff and volunteers! This event would not be possible without everyone’s help and support. 

We hope to see you all again for Ride for Rainbows next year!

Please email rfr@clubrainbow.org to be a part of Ride for Rainbows next year!

3 Marathons . 2 Individuals . 1 Heart

Unique Fundraising: Part I

By Rachele Foo, Content Contributor

When people think of SHN, boredom often pops into mind. Not being able to leave the room for a long time is dreaded, and the one thing that people on SHN look forward to is its end. For some, however, their SHN experience was not all dreary. It was unique and meaningful. This was the case for Chris Snook.

Chris runs daily. Hence, he knew that he had to find a way to keep fit when he was notified to serve a 21-day SHN. He was originally offered an exercise bike; however, when he saw his hotel room, he was pleasantly surprised by its size and realised that it would allow him to run around the room effectively. As he started to expand on the idea, he figured that he could gauge the distance covered based on the time spent. Since he usually runs for about 6km -7km each day outside, he thought that it would be possible to cover about 6km a day in his room. Coincidentally, running about 6km a day for 21 days would mean that he covered three marathons.

As everyone knows, it is hard to stick to a routine, especially when it involves running. Hence, Chris decided to find a solution for this by doing something that would force him to commit, and that is when he came up with the idea of a SHN Marathon Challenge. During this fundraising campaign, he would run three marathons totalling 126.6km in 3 weeks, in his hotel room, without a treadmill.

As the clock was ticking, Chris quickly acted on the idea and researched possible organisations to fundraise. That was when he came across Club Rainbow. He was drawn in by the fact that Club Rainbow supports chronically ill children and their families, who are often not appreciated enough. Additionally, as he was going to raise funds for the organisation from the public, he wanted to do it for an organisation that is trustworthy and recognised for its values, and that was why he was also attracted by Club Rainbow’s governance efforts and transparency.

To increase awareness of his fundraiser, Chris quickly contacted a friend of his, Bjorn Seegers, who runs Muddy Murphy’s, an Irish pub. Bjorn was keen on the idea and hoped to spread positivity in a time of negativity. He recommended the fundraising platform and helped to set the fundraiser up. Additionally, they partnered with Heineken and Asia Pacific Breweries to give three free pints of Heineken to the donors for every $50 donated as appreciation.

During the three weeks, to remain accountable to the people who donated, Chris also recorded the distance covered, the number of steps and his speed to share on the page.

Everything went smoothly, and at the end of the 21 days, Chris celebrated the end of his SHN and the successful completion of his fundraiser.

When asked about what advice he would give to others considering setting up their fundraiser, Chris mentioned that it is important to find a charity that subscribes to the values one personally embraces. Additionally, anyone considering a fundraiser has to be respectful and not pressure others into donating because everyone faces challenges that you might not be aware of - every donation, no matter how big or small, matters.

Chris shares his marathon route in a hotel room …

Lastly, running barefoot in the room is more comfortable than running with trainers. In case you are thinking of being the next SHN fundraiser!

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Kickstart a giving back journey to the vulnerable little ones in the community!

Your efforts will be doubled as part of the Fortitude Budget, the government is matching donations to charities dollar-for-dollar till 31 March 2022.

To better support NPOs and givers, there will be NO TRANSACTION FEES on Giving.sg till 31 March 2022. Therefore, 100% of your donations will go to Club Rainbow (Singapore).

Do contact us crscpm@clubrainbow.org and we can guide you along to begin your journey with us today.