At the age of 12, Chng Rui Jie has raised more than $1.2 million for charity.
She started organising online fund-raisers through Giving.sg when she was nine to raise money for primary school pupils who might go hungry during recess because of their families' financial woes.
This desire to help was spurred by Rui Jie's own experience when she was in Primary 1. She had forgotten to take her wallet to school and had to go without food during recess.
"That was an unpleasant experience for me," recalled the Gongshang Primary School pupil. "And to know that there are people who don't get to eat three meals a day, I feel really sad about it. That is why I decided to help."
Her first fund-raiser in 2020 raised more than $56,000 for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF) in six months.
To date, Rui Jie has raised $332,000 for the fund. She is also its youngest fund-raiser, said a spokesman for STSPMF.
Rui Jie has also organised 60 online campaigns for charities such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Assisi Hospice.
Despite having to prepare to sit the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which ended in October, Rui Jie still managed to raise $285,717 in donations in 2023.
This story is from the November 13, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the November 13, 2023 edition of The Straits Times.
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