Stories of Volunteer Dedication and Impact #CRSvolunteers

Introducing Fiona, one of our volunteers from our 30th Anniversary Birthday Bash, she then joined Camp Rainbow as one of our volunteers.

Fiona is also a speech therapist, who has experience working with children and youths, who have Autism, ADHD and other neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions. She helped to produce content on “Understanding and Managing Children with special needs” which will be part of our e-training materials for new volunteers.

CRS: When did you start your volunteering journey and why did you decide to do it?

Fiona: I believe that no man is an island; its important to receive help and its equally crucial to reach out to others to build that community. Thus, after I settled into my first job after uni (and after the height of COVID), I decided to start volunteering at CRS. I started off with helping out randomly at the 30th anniversary carnival, then the rest is history!

CRS: What is volunteering to you?

Fiona: To me, its a sharing of hearts and hands in order to bring a smile on others' face, or make life better for another.

CRS: What contribution or achievement are you most proud of ?

Fiona: Hmmmm probably volunteering at CRS camp and creating a positive camp experience for my camper/group! It was my first time at the CRS camp this year, and I really saw how this camp was a significant event to both the beneficiaries and families. :')

CRS: What was the best thing about your time volunteering?

Fiona: Learning so much (big and small) from the beneficiaries, their families and other volunteers. And of course, all the positive relationships built in the process of the work done.

CRS: What skills did you gained through volunteering?

Fiona: It would be to listen closely and taking time to always put myself in the shoes of the beneficiary, instead of rushing to complete a task/objective.

CRS: What words of encouragement do you have for those that are starting their volunteering journey out there?

Fiona: My advice would be to not think about it anymore and just try! Sometimes we over-think the possibilities or doubt our ability to contribute or connect to others. But your presence itself can be a present to others - so just show up and get involved.

---

Introducing Steve, one of our volunteer tutors for our beneficiaries.

Steve has been a volunteer tutor with Club Rainbow (Singapore) for a year.

CRS: Can you tell me about yourself?

Steve: My name is Steve and I’m an American who’s lived in Singapore for just over three years.  I am a professor of political science at Yale-NUS College. I love to read, play and watch basketball, and discover new restaurants with my amazing fiancée Marina. 

CRS: How long have you been a volunteer?

Steve: I have been a volunteer for almost one year

CRS: What is volunteering to you?

Steve: Volunteering is an opportunity to give back and contribute to something greater than oneself.

CRS: How have you benefitted from the volunteering experience?

Steve: By working towards a greater and collective goal, volunteering helps broaden my perspective of what matters in life. The rat race of work and my busy social life often narrows my interests towards what’s immediately in front of me. Volunteering puts my day-to-day life in perspective. It also makes me feel better about my week. No matter the week’s ups and downs, when I volunteer I know that I did at least one thing that week that hopefully helped someone else. Finally, as an expat, tutoring has been a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Singapore.

CRS: Were there any challenging moments?

Steve: Thankfully there have not been too many challenging moments. My tutee has been excellent. The hardest times for me were waking up very early in the morning for tutoring sessions when I was traveling to Singapore.

CRS: What motivates you to continue volunteering?

Steve: Volunteering adds meaning to my life by helping me contribute to something bigger than myself. It’s also an opportunity to give back. I would not be where I am today without the guidance of countless teachers, coaches and mentors. By volunteering, I strive to give back similar guidance and support to new generations of youth.

---

Introducing Chantel, one of our volunteers of Camp Rainbow 2023, Chantel was one of the co-heads of the programmes team during camp.

CRS: Can you tell me about yourself?

Chantel: Hello! I am Chantel, a year 2 Business Management Student in Singapore Management University (SMU). Some things I like to do during my free time would be watching true-crime podcasts and spending time with my loved ones 

CRS: How long have you been volunteering?

Chantel: I became a volunteer at Club Rainbow since the beginning of this year, mainly for Camp Rainbow!

CRS: Why did you decide to volunteer for Camp Rainbow?

Chantel: It began with me wanting to help out in the community, and since I enjoy working with kids, I felt that a children's camp would suit me best! But as I was given more opportunities to interact with the beneficiaries of Club Rainbow (ie. Camp Prep Tea), I could see the amount of joy and fun they were having with the programmes that were meaningfully curated by my team and the staff. That really made me strive to make this year's Camp Rainbow a camp that would be unforgettable for all. 

CRS: How was it like taking up leadership roles?

Chantel: Initially it was rather daunting as I had no experience with planning activities for kids with special needs. I was worried that my activities planned would not be engaging enough for them. But with the help of the staff and the rest of the volunteers, we managed to tweak our activities in a way where it would better cater to the kids at Club Rainbow. At the end of the day, it was a fulfilling experience and one filled with growth

CRS: What did you learn from volunteering for Camp Rainbow?

Chantel: I learnt that the beneficiaries at Club Rainbow are just like any other child, they are young spirited individuals that are capable of having as much fun as any other could. There has always been a stigma against individuals with special needs, and through the planning and execution of Camp Rainbow, I feel more inclined to do what I can to break that stigma and help provide opportunities to the kids at Club Rainbow to live an equally fulfilling life. 

CRS: How would you encourage others to start volunteering? 

Chantel: Be brave and take that first step! You will find that the your efforts as a volunteer leave a positive impact on these kids, and I am sure you will be coming back for more

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)

---

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.

Coming together as a community in 2020

In it together

2020 is a year that will go down in history as the year where almost all of human race ‘caught a cold’. It is a year that disrupted many industries and lives.

It is a pivot year for both organisations and individuals - a test of resilience and embracing change.

On a positive note, one would see it as a year of opportunities. It gave way to technology that did not reach its potential such as virtual events, tools and technology integration. With the pandemic giving the population a push to connect virtually locally and beyond boundaries, making unified communication the keyword to communicating today.

Not ready for change

Our beneficiaries and their families faced tremendous pressure from the lack of access to technology for education and professional, increased financial aid. Many of these families depend on the gig economy for monthly sustenance.

With the pandemic, many experience loss of income coupled with worry for the safety of their chronically-ill child whose immune system is severely compromised, leaving the little ones susceptible to contracting the virus.

Forward Nonetheless

From a year of trials and opportunities, these 3 important aspects apply to almost everyone:

1. It’s OK to be not OK

The pandemic changed

• the way academic lessons are carried out

• the way businesses are operating

• social interactions are restricted to minimal

• social activities are either cancelled or reduced to smaller group size.

Some CRS beneficiaries and their families felt disconnected and were at a loss during the lockdown.

Many children needed laptops and internet access to keep up with ongoing academic lessons. The children’s usual leisure activities are also cancelled or converted to online sessions. We are thankful that many corporate and community donations came in to support these immediate needs.

2020 indeed took CHANGE to a whole new level. All aspects of comfort were disrupted for both personal and professional. The personal touch was quickly replaced with unified communication and integrated technology. This brought about uncertainty, a need to retrain and upskill.

2. Always Keep An Open Mind

With CHANGE, there are always opportunities for personal and professional growth.

CRS teams were challenged to think out of the box to increase community engagement, conversion of physical to virtual events and engagement with the beneficiaries and their families. Children and their families were also encouraged to participate in online activities to keep connected and engaged.

3. Never Give Up

An encouraging and positive environment helps to give the children confidence as we go through one of their critical milestones – PSLE. All the children who have been attending weekly tuition with us passed their PSLE exams this year. It wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of volunteer tutors who still came forward for these children and never gave up despite the pandemic.

As the saying goes ‘The community that plays together stays together’ and this couldn’t be more true than in current time. The support from relevant authorities helped charities with financial support such as the Fortitude Budget and matching grant from Toteboard. Donations from individual and group fundraisers aid in the increased need for financial assistance, food rations and immediate demand for hygiene products to maintain adequate sanitisation.

We want to thank all our corporate partners, group and individual fundraisers, donors, volunteers, beneficiaries and their families for their perseverance and getting through 2020 together.

Let’s continue to Stay Safe, Stay Strong and Stay United!

We wish everyone a Happy Ox-picious Lunar New Year! May the year of Ox bring all of us good health, abundance and prosperity!

First Virtual Ride For Rainbows

2020’s edition of Ride For Rainbows, one of Singapore’s largest charity cycling event proudly presented by Club Rainbow (Singapore), proved to be an extraordinary one. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ride For Rainbows was transform into a virtual ride for the first time in its nine years of history.

Milestones for Ride For Rainbows 2020.

Spanning from 3 to 11 October 2020, a total of 483 riders geared up across the island to participate; riding anytime and anywhere, on any bicycle. With our riders’ support and outright donations from the public, a total of $544,134 was raised by the end of the fundraising period.

At the virtual flag-off, viewers were treated to a Hip-Hop performance by our beneficiaries. They also got to e-meet our patron and caregiver.

A midnight virtual flag-off with our patron and guest-of-honour, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, was held on 3 October 2020. Viewers of the Facebook Live stream were treated to a Hip-Hop dance performance by our budding young dancers. Guided by Converge Studios' instructors, one of our Arts Programme Collaborators, the specially choreographed dance performance was made possible through long hours of rehearsals by our children.

Caregiver Siti and her son, Sayfullah, participated in Ride For Rainbows 2020 as Team Rainbow members.

At the virtual flag-off, viewers also learned more about caregiver Siti Fadillah, whose two children have been with Club Rainbow for more than 10 years. However, what made Ride For Rainbows exceptional for Siti and her son Sayfullah this year, was that they participated as riders!

“Given this opportunity, it is to raise awareness about the beneficiaries of Club Rainbow. I wanted Sayfullah to join this year because we want to give back to Club Rainbow. We also can inspire others to look at their abilities, not disabilities,” said Siti. Her sentiments perfectly encapsulated our motivations behind setting up a category for beneficiaries with mobility constraints this year. As members of Team Rainbow, every participating child was with a caregiver who pushed the child on a wheelchair for a distance of 2km.

Our beneficiary, Royce, was invited to design a commissioned artwork for the Ride For Rainbows 2020 jersey.

Highlight reel, featuring some of our riders’ moments.

To cheer on our riders, participating riders were entitled to their very own ride pack. An exclusive Ride For Rainbows 2020 jersey was included in each ride pack, featuring a piece of commissioned artwork specially created by our beneficiary, Royce!

While the Ride For Rainbows 2020 experience was surely a different one from previous years, our participating riders managed to chase rainbows on their own and made beautiful memories out of their virtual rides.

Fundraising team from Aberdeen Standard Investments: The Bakers Dozen.

A stark contrast to the usual cheers of support at previous years’ flag-off points, fundraising team The Bakers Dozen found that the frogs’ chorus through East Coast was something to behold. Abiding by the Phase 2 regulations, they separated into different groups and set out on their bicycles at 4.30 am, celebrating with post-ride breakfasts after completion.

For our top individual fundraiser Eugene Ngiam, engaging in good conversation with friends he had lost touch with was a highlight of the fundraising process.

Our top fundraiser, Eugene Ngiam, was motivated to go all the way due to the support he received from loved ones.

As said by the Ride For Rainbows 2020 committee, we couldn't have done it without our riders, donors, and sponsors. Even though Ride for Rainbows was converted into a virtual ride this year, it didn’t dampen our participating riders’ passions in raising funds for our cause. Thanking our top fundraisers and teams, we met up with them in December 2020 to present tokens of appreciation to them.

For first-timers thinking of joining Ride For Rainbows, Jerome, team leader of our top fundraising team The CBS Boys, says: “Get the bike out of the storeroom and join RFR in 2021. Your efforts will make a big impact on the challenging lives of about 1,200 chronically ill kids and their families. Help tell those stories of CRS beneficiaries, so others will come to know of the awesome work done. It is a great experience and a good start to volunteer.”

Club Rainbow (Singapore) would like to express our utmost gratitude to all supporting parties. We look forward to your participation in Ride For Rainbows 2021!

Email rfr@clubrainbow.org to find out more on Ride For Rainbows 2021!

Traits of a befriender. Have you got it?

by Navya Singh, Content Contributor

Yay, you get to volunteer as a befriender! But wait, what are you supposed to do? What qualities do you need? What are the dos and don’ts? Not to worry, we have got just the article to help you! Here is the ultimate guide on how to be a befriender

Tan Erica, a student at SIM, shares her dos and don’ts of being a befriender. Erica spends her free time volunteering, making beautiful cards and spending time with her friends. When not doing that, she can be found at a quaint café enjoying a cup of coffee.

DO NOT

1. Talk about sensitive issues

Avoid sensitive topics such as religion, politics and family unless you are super close to your beneficiary. Stick to lighter topics. Ask about their favourite shows, movies, hobbies etc. If you’re lucky you might find common ground and really get to bond!

2. Overpromise

You might find that your beneficiary really enjoys your visits. As a result, you say perhaps you could visit more often. Do not say that. Do not promise anything until you are sure of it. If you make promises and break them, they tend to remember. And this will harm your relationship…

Read more - http://bit.ly/2vWIM03

First published in Club Rainbow Singapore LinkedIn article.

Welcoming our new Council Members...

This year, our management council bids adieu to some members, thanking them for their contribution. At the same time, they extend their welcome to a couple of new members coming on board who also share the same values as Club Rainbow. We are happy to speak with some of the new members and get to know them better.

---

Miss Wong Qin Lei joins the Management Council of Club Rainbow (Singapore) for a term of one year as the Programmes Director. Before coming on board, Qin Lei found herself drawn to humbly giving back to the community through the form of supporting the elderly group by helping to create awareness on elderly living in solitude to all walks of life. Over ten years of devoting her time, she experienced personal nourishment in the process of developing empathy and patience for this group of pioneer generation who contributed to the building of our nation.

Loving her profession in the industry of early education by day and giving hours of volunteering when she can, one may say that community work is in her blood… We catch up with Qin Lei recently for a chat and uncover her secret of what keeps her driven in community work.

---

Q: What about CRS mission and work motivates you?

QL: Working with children of varying needs, I believe that children shape our future to the type of society we would see moving forward. The key highlight of CRS’s work that impresses me lies in its holistic ecological approach in offering services to the children and their families across the spectrum with the aim of uplifting the quality of life for both the children and their families. This, in turn, translates to child-centric solutions that would bring greater and more significant impact on the beneficiary and the family.

Q: What do you reckon the difference would be compared to your previous experience with charity?

QL: Go along with me on this one; imagine the philosophical view of the Circle of Life.

The elderly and the child stages are the closest to one another. They are at the phases of a typical lifecycle where they are at the most vulnerable.

A child potentially has to learn how to fend for him or herself, acquire certain life skills and also how to navigate when they eventually become a contributor to our society in their own ways. I think it’s the same thing for the elderly where after going through the whole journey of life, and they are at the stage of life where they have become frail and the same thing being vulnerable. They are at the mercy of their body, people around them, caregivers, etc. I think at the end of the day, these two groups of people need care and attention.

In my opinion, I don’t see much difference, except for the difference in the types of care and attention required between the two groups.

Q: Juggling between work and volunteerism, what challenges did you face, and how did you manage it?

QL: In the pursuit of a career path in my early years, both satisfaction and purpose were not achieved easily at work. Through committing time to community work over the weekends is when I feel recharged with a sense of purposefulness and joy. Among the ups and downs that I faced during this period, the thing that challenges me most was the lack of understanding from my family on my decision to dedicate time to volunteerism.

---

“Through committing time to community work

over the weekends

is when I feel recharged

with a sense of purposefulness and joy.”

- Qin Lei -

---

Due to the difference in views of community giving, Qin Lei shared that she does face occasional disagreements with her family. Setbacks such as children not turning up for the arranged tuition sessions certainly did not help to make situations any better. Still, she held on to her resolute belief of ‘a simple act of giving brings joy’ which kept her connected to social service regardless of being surrounded by negativity. 

QL: So some of these things do happen at the same time. I guess that there are just little things that may occur throughout, and in life, whenever you run a project, there could be a setback. You’ve got to ask yourself then why do we want to do this? Why do I want to do it? So let’s say today my outreach failed and I can’t help this person but can I help the second person? Can I try again for the second person at all? This persistent prompting is what kept me going towards community giving, bringing me happiness, and that is important to me — my way of self-care.

Q: What advice do you have for fellow professionals in considering volunteerism?

QL: I like to share that regardless of whichever juncture of life you are at and if you have a moment with yourself, to take a step back and reflect on what you have done and achieve in the past years. Asking yourself, would you count it as a blessing? Feeling blessed, would you be able to give some and if yes, then how would you like to give and what would you like to give? So I guess it’s not an advice, it’s more of a question that you could ask yourself. It is not easy for people to tell themselves ‘I am blessed’. I don’t have a perfect life and not a religious person, but I dare to say that I feel that ‘the guy up there’ has been rather kind to me in general. The key thing here is not ‘I need to give’ but ‘I want to give’. When you want to give, you will give wholeheartedly — the intent.

The key thing here is not ‘I need to give’ but ‘I want to give’.

When you want to give, you will give wholeheartedly.

THE INTENT.

- Qin Lei -

Q: Qin Lei, thank you for sharing with us so much! Before we go off, please do tell us one thing about you that would surprise us and Club Rainbow followers.

QL: I walked around with a bone fracture in my foot for 15 years without realising it. I was advised by a medical professional to leave the broken piece alone since it did not interfere with walking. So I walk around with a bit of a broken bone in my foot these days!

Follow us on our social media channels – Facebook and LinkedIn for the latest updates! You may also support our mission by contributing through this link - #Clubrainbow.