Youth Ground-up Movements: Behind-the-Scenes
All the hardship, hustle and heart behind starting youth initiatives.
If you’ve read our previous article about ground-up initiatives, you may have been inspired to start your own! We’ve interviewed members of two ground-up initiatives, Project TWAW and FFAC, to give you a lowdown on what you can expect.
Project TWAW (Together We Achieve Wonders) aims to purchase necessities for vulnerable communities. FFAC (also known as Friends For A Cause) is a group of former schoolmates who have come up with initiatives to both raise awareness of various causes and brighten our lives.
The Spark that Started It All
Both Project TWAW and FFAC were conceived based on observations their founding members made as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded across Singapore. The impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups was evident, but what stood out for Project TWAW was the plight of needy seniors.
While the group acknowledged that seniors are generally more vulnerable to the coronavirus, some seniors are still working to make ends meet. They take on odd jobs such as selling tissue paper and collecting cardboard.
One of their members, Heng Cai Jing, notes “They have always been surviving on minimal wages and now without an income, how will they survive?”. Teo Wei De, another of Project TWAW’s members shares this sentiment.
“ Previously I volunteered once in community works (sic) by helping (the elderly) collect cardboard. I know the hardship [undergone] to maintain their daily needs as they can only earn 10 cents for each kg of cardboard collected”. — Wei De
After all, these seniors need to earn in order to purchase necessities. “Most of us can still live a comfortable life, purchasing these essential items without much worry that [doing so] will diminish [our] ability to put food on the table for [ourselves] or for [our families]. This was not the case for the needy elder(ly),” shared another member, Andy Toh.
This was a sentiment shared by Ms Eleanor Yap, founder of the active ageing website Ageless Online. Ms Yap mentioned that seniors have contributed much to nation-building, and should be treated with dignity and respect. This entails treating seniors how we want to be treated when we ourselves become seniors.
With that, Project TWAW resolved to help these seniors in their Bedok neighbourhood ride out the pandemic safely at home, for they would raise funds to purchase necessities for them.
As for FFAC, a Today news article inspired their first initiative, a month-long music fundraiser for Community Chest. “The article elaborated on how some charities were in need of funds during the onset of the new measures taken as a result of Covid-19 — having their fundraisers scrapped and also encountering a lack of physical manpower,” remarked FFAC’s N (not their real name).
FFAC’s mission, to continue encouraging people around them to proactively engage the community at large, also set the tone for the group’s second initiative — a series of Instagram posts featuring trivia related to food.
Laying the Groundwork
With the groups’ mission settled, it was time to get down to planning. For FFAC, this phase was a bit of a stumbling block as the group had considered several ideas before finally deciding on the music fundraiser and the food trivia. This involved brainstorming sessions and consultations with family members and friends.
“Coming up with ideas that we think would fit the communities the best. and ideas that the public are looking forward to understanding more”, as N put it, was challenging as there are many factors which determine the success of an initiative.
One of these factors would be whether the needs on the ground are adequately addressed. Ms Yap echoes this sentiment, saying that one has to “figure out the gaps in the community” and “see how [they] can help” to ensure their initiative’s relevance.
“ For instance, we wanted to come up with a challenge, whereby people would cook at (home)through learning a recipe from their family members, in aim of strengthening bonds within families and also spreading awareness of activities people can take part in during this [COVID-19] situation. However, upon considering the feasibility and possible problems such as (a) lack of public response that may arise, we chose a more accessible method, where we would set up an information-sharing platform for the public to share their food-related activities.” — N
Project TWAW took a different approach, drawing on their past experiences in coordinating ground-up movements. Andy and another of the team’s members, Teo Meng Kai, were part of the organising committee of a student-initiated project aimed at expressing gratitude to their school’s non-teaching staff. “Through that experience, we’ve learned the importance of accountability, especially for our funds, and were able to put to good use for this project.”
The experience has allowed them to clearly designate roles to each of Project TWAW’s founders. “1 person is doing admin work such as tracking down of every milestone in a shared Google Doc, 1 who manages all the volunteers and manpower we have, 1 who does the contacting of beneficiaries and other organisations, and 1 team leader who oversees everything, fills in roles whenever needed and manages the social [media] accounts and replying of emails.”
Translating Plans into Action
Oftentimes, plans are easier said than done, but that does not mean that they cannot be made a reality! A key aspect of executing ground-up initiatives would be getting in touch with their beneficiaries and partners, in order to forge trust and confidence in the initiatives.
As a newly-formed group, having little credentials can make this process tough, but it helps to start small. This means approaching one’s personal contacts, for the groups would never know that a small bit of assistance from these personal contacts can go a long way. FFAC managed to get some of their friends with music backgrounds to perform for their fundraiser, while Project TWAW got the seniors’ details after getting in touch with one of their member’s friends:
“ Gathering the details of the seniors (was) also a challenge to us. This is because we are a fresh organisation and have no relevant contact details of the seniors. Thus, one of the members went to seek details from his friend, who is a volunteer in Buddhist Youth Network and ex-president of Buddhist Society in Nanyang Polytechnic. He then referred us to the relevant organiser who provided us with the required information.”
There are also a wealth of resources and platforms out there to help first-timers, such as crowdfunding page Giving.sg, which FFAC uses due to the site’s user-friendly interface.
Ensuring that the initiative flows smoothly is also vital, and doing so requires some foresight on the organisers’ part. Fortunately, in this day and age, advancements in technology have helped mitigate some of these logistical and publicity concerns.
“We (would) need manpower for delivery of the items considering that the beneficiaries are scattered around Bedok, and delivering more than 60kg worth of items in a day is beyond our capabilities,” recounted Project TWAW. The team turned to Instagram and a PDF file to promote their project to potential volunteers and used Google Forms to ensure a smooth registration process for them. They also hoped that their Instagram page would attract potential donors too.
Similarly, FFAC used Instagram to regularly update their followers about the progress of their fundraiser and even drafted Whatsapp message templates for their performers. The performers could send them to family members and friends who did not use Instagram but would like to support the fundraiser.
Respecting the Rules
Then came the need for accountability.
For FFAC, it was a matter of harnessing a reliable platform to collect donations. “ Giving.sg provided a platform for us to fundraise without having to be an intermediary to collate the funds. As a result, this saved us from having the huge responsibility of holding onto the funds and instead, have it go directly towards the registered beneficiary”, explained N.
On Project TWAW’s side, accountability to their donors was key. “To assure donors that their donations will be used solely for the purpose of purchasing items to give out, we are constantly updating on the progress of our project on the Instagram page- including the receipts of our spendings,” said the team.
Even with all these nitty gritties settled, a larger obstacle loomed. In light of the pandemic, a slew of safe distancing measures have been rolled out across Singapore. This has caused Project TWAW’s initial plan to distribute necessities to be put on hold for some time.
“ We initially wanted to deliver the welfare packets in urgent times, such as during the circuit breaker. However, that was not possible. Our volunteers could not gather to pack the welfare packs, nor was it recommended to conduct the house visiting during the distribution. As such, the distribution will be conducted once the circuit breaker ends,” the group mentioned.
A Balancing Act
To top it all off, some of the founding members of the groups we’ve interviewed have had to juggle other commitments with their initiatives. It was tough for them at the beginning, but their dedication to making a difference has kept them going. Project TWAW’s Wei De and Meng Kai have to deal with ‘A’ levels and NS, while Cai Jing has to balance student council commitments on top of studying for the ‘A’ levels.
This dedication has enabled them to put in more thought into the planning of their schedules. As Meng Kai sums up:
“If I have the heart and passion to serve the community at the same time, I can make it happen. I started to prioritise my time and ensured that pockets of time in between my schedule are not wasted. With the little little (sic) time squeezed out, things can be done.”
Even volunteers for these ground-up initiatives agree. A student volunteer for Project TWAW who wants to be known only as CJ sees their participation in the project as a “break period” from their schoolwork:
“It’s just like a time for you to let go of studies temporarily and contribute to society.”
FFAC’s situation is slightly different, as most of their members are waiting to enter university. But the group wishes to continue with their efforts in the long term, and doing so would require some time management skills on their end.
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining
“Sometimes its three steps forward and two steps back, but you’re still one step ahead of where you used to be” — Mike Breaux, author.
On the whole, running into challenges when executing a project is inevitable, but they are also our guides for finding a better way to conceptualise our project.
Project TWAW initially wanted to help out migrant workers, but decided not to as there were already many groups holding the fort. This led them to redirect their efforts to needy seniors, a group that received relatively less attention.
At that point, though, they had already raised a substantial amount of funds. With the funds redirected and the donors updated about the change, the group had some spare donations. They then used these donations to instead purchase $600 worth of supermarket vouchers for needy families in another neighbourhood. This was done with the help of the neighbourhood’s GRC who had received “approval from the relevant authorities to distribute the NTUC vouchers on our behalf.”
Owing to the success of their first initiative where the total amount raised exceeded $500, FFAC initially wanted to hold another fundraiser in tandem with the food trivia Instagram posts, spending weeks discussing its effectiveness. Eventually, they decided to feature Singapore’s different food charities, together with their own fundraising links, to raise awareness of food charities as a whole.
Been there, done that!
Indeed, being part of a ground-up initiative can be tough, yet exciting. The two groups have been humbled by their experiences in acting on their causes.
When asked for advice they could give to students interested in executing their own ground-up initiatives, three important traits were unanimously brought up: perseverance, dedication, and proper planning
As Andy sums up, “If you truly believe in your [cause] of action, never be afraid to kick-start the project. Put in the hard-work (planning, procuring logistics etc.), but more importantly, the heart-work as well.”
On perseverance, Meng Kai has this to say, advice which was echoed by Wei De: “Do not be afraid of failure, and never give up despite any hardships you may face on the way.”
Besides resilience, having a positive mindset is equally essential. Cai Jing aptly brings this up, saying:
“ Failure should never be a term in our head when we plan to start our own ground-up initiative. The impact of the ground-up initiative, no matter how small, will always still have an impact! If starting a self-initiated project is tough, then always look for friends that can help you out!”
FFAC’s N also reiterated the need to stay optimistic and realistic too. “Have a vision or a workable model to begin with. Treasure your friends! And know who you can work with,” she mentioned.
Onward to a Brighter Future
These tips could possibly be what has kept several ground-up efforts strong, for Ms Yap mentions “if you are committed, there is always a way.”
“We all have a chance and power to make a change, so do something!” — Ms Yap
Ms Yap even mentions that taking the first step to effecting change is to start with ourselves, by showing care towards our family members, vulnerable groups and overlooked groups in our community. That includes bus drivers and cleaners. She hopes that the spirit of these projects, similar to the ones that she has initiated, can continue manifesting in our daily lives, and we students are a key driver in making this happen.
“The power lies in the young people.” — Ms Yap
With that, she is optimistic about Singapore’s future.
