Hi fellow Victorians! We would like to reach out to our Victorian family by sharing this self-initiated venture which is both unique and exciting.
Trek For Fund (TFF) is a self-initiated social venture formulated by three youths in 2012. We are embarking on a journey to Mount Everest Base Camp (EBC) in a bid to raise money for a charitable cause. We are departing for Nepal on the 2nd of May, and returning to Singapore on the 24th of May.
The significance of our initiative is the idea of commencing and completing our trek starting with absolutely zero cash at the beginning (money is required for expenditure such as lodging and food). As we trek up the mountain, we intend to spread awareness about our initiative and beneficiary, as well as garner donations from fellow trekkers.
We set our target to one dollar for every meter we ascend. Since EBC has an altitude of 5364 meters, we originally aimed to raise S$5364. However, we have since exceeded that amount, and now we look to potentially double or even triple that amount.
We estimate that we need S$25 a day to sustain our entire trek meaning we need to collect S$75 a day for our team of three.
Each of us will be carrying S$200 (converted to Nepalese Rupees) in a sealed envelope. These monies will provide necessary cashflow in the event of medical emergencies, or any other unforeseen and unprecedented circumstances we encounter.
For both of us, contributing to society is an integral component of our lives. We hope this can be a platform to showcase how youths in Singapore can contribute to society via means and avenues which are creative, novel and feasible.
Our initiative does not end upon our arrival back in Singapore. We have some plans in the pipeline to continue our fund-raising efforts. There has been liaison with the principals of schools to give sharing sessions and presentations regarding our initiative. Simply put, we aspire to inspire.
In advance, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for kind donations and support.
Yours Sincerely,
Wee Wei Liang graduated from VS in 2007 and Victoria Junior College in 2009 and is awaiting university enrollment this coming August.
S Surentheran graduated from VS in 2007 and Raffles Junior College in 2009 and is currently a second-year medical student at the NUS Medicine Faculty.
Beneficiary:
Project Battambang is an overseas community project organised by students from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. For the past two years, the team, mentored by Dr Ong Yew Jin, has been going to the district of Poipet, located near the Cambodian province of Battambang and on the Thai-Cambodian border, with the main focus of supplementing local primary healthcare services, and developing effective and sustainable rural healthcare programmes for the community. Project Battambang needs at least $25,000 to operate each year.
Suren was the Project Director within Project Battambang last year. He oversaw the entire operations of Project Battambang last year and will be playing the role of an advisor for the team for the next few years. He hopes to eventually be part of the project in the long-term as a doctor after graduating in 2015.
Fund-raising efforts:
We have four methods for raising funds.
1. Direct Donations. While in Singapore, we are actively reaching out to our network (friends/relatives/teachers/colleagues etc) to pledge any amount to TFF and Project Battambang. We have managed to accumulate over S$6000 in a short space of a month’s period.
2. At EBC. We seek to impress our sincerity upon the multifarious groups of trekking tourists and convince them to contribute to a meaningful cause. We will be bringing along publicity materials (banners, t-shirts, brochures, ipads to depict our efforts) as well as handwritten notes from the villagers in Poipet for our potential donors to keep as memento.
3. 1-for-1 donors. This refers to individuals who agree to donate an amount equivalent to the money we raised in EBC itself. At this point in time, we are glad to state that four have stepped forward to be our 1-for-1 donors.
4. Alma Mater. We have plans to reach out to our old schools to collect funds from past teachers and current students via donation drives. At the same time, we desire to use this opportunity to share our experiences to inspire and enlighten.
Personal funding:
We would like to take this opportunity to declare that we are sponsoring our own expenses with money forked out from our own pockets. We are now working part-time to supplement our personal savings so as to resolve our financial requirements.