Teens Raised $25K for Child Cancer Patients in One Month

Friday, Jul. 3, 2009 Posted: 8:37:59PM HKT

In Singapore, childhood cancer hits 140 out of every million children every year, with half of all cases taking place in those below five years old. Malay, Chinese or Indian children are just as likely to get cancer. (Photo: Parkway Cancer Centre)

Four teenage girls managed to raise $25K within the space of a month for child cancer patients as part of a YMCA community initiative.

Team leader Kylie Liu attributed the success of the campaign to unity. The group of students from Nanyang Girls’ High School had rallied the help of over 300 volunteers from six schools including Hwa Chong, Raffles Institution, CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh), CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School and Xinmin Secondary, the team told the YMCA.

The volunteers rotated around three-hourly shifts at two booths along Orchard Road, selling merchandise from the Children’s Cancer Foundation – the team’s beneficiary charity under the Citibank-YMCA Youth for Causes programme – and silk cocoon tulips tagged with a special message.

Little Voices, as the team is called, has been selling at least 1,000 of these tulips per day and hopes to keep up the record.

Youth for Causes is an annual community initiative jointly organised by Citibank and the YMCA of Singapore to promote social entrepreneurship among youths in Singapore. Every year since 2002, Citi Foundation has been sponsoring 100 teams of four youths aged 15 to 35 with seed fundings of $1,600 per team to execute their creative ideas to benefit a charity of their choice.

A team from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), which seeks to give greater exposure to the Yellow Ribbon Project Singapore, will take a rare peek into life within Changi Prison and discover the culinary talents within through “Dining Behind Bars”.

They will also hold a dance concert on July 25 with the theme of metamorphosis that will see Junior College, Polytechnic students and the general public aged from 17 to 21 coming together, with all ticket sales going toward the Yellow Ribbon Project. Plans of having ex-convicts help with lighting, ushering and even guest performances are underway.

Through the campaign, the team hopes that societal mindsets could be changed and that every ex-convict given a second chance.

“For these ex-convicts, it was just a one-off mistake. We understand how hard it is for them to reintegrate into society, that’s why we should all give them a second chance. Let’s not judge them; we hope that societal mindsets can be changed,” said Chua Hui Jing Sandra Anya, the leader of Danza!

Since its inception, Youth for Causes has raised $2.62 million for over 200 voluntary welfare organisations, mobilising 55,400 volunteers and reaching out to 3.9 million people in the process.

Nathanael Ng
Christian Post Reporter