Student-Athletes Launch Donation Drives To Spur Generosity

2020 ROAR Award (Term 4)

It seemed like just another car ride with her family for Nadya Adelia Ang in November 2020 not long before school was to close for the year. But by the time she arrived at her destination, the student-athlete from Singapore Sports School’s Netball Academy had made up her mind to organise a book collection and donation drive among her Secondary 1 batchmates.

Knowing she had little time to act, Nadya got the ball rolling, immediately contacting her Netball Academy general manager Lee Min Li to learn more about the procedural and logistical requirements needed to execute the project within the final week of school.

Resolute and undeterred by the short time frame she had to get things done, Nadya sought the help from her Netball Academy teammates, telling them about her plan to collect and donate textbooks and storybooks, which they no longer need and were still in good condition, to incoming freshmen. Various methods were adopted to spread word of the donation drive.

The collected books were subsequently distributed to several student-athletes from the 2021 incoming batch.

“My family was talking about charity work during our car ride and my parents suggested the idea of organising a book donation drive in school, so I decided to try and do it. Having completed it, I thought that it was a fun project to do as we were able to help some of the new Secondary 1s. If I were to do another similar project in the future, I would launch it earlier to give others more runway to donate,” said Nadya.

Beyond encouraging the spirit of giving and compassion, the initiative was a small step towards a more sustainable future. For her heart-work and effort, Nadya received the ROAR Award from Principal Mr Ong Kim Soon on 21 January 2021.

The ROAR Award is a recognition of an outstanding student-athlete who exhibits the values of Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Excellence and Resilience. Seven student-athletes, including Nadya, received the Award for Term 4 in 2020.

Fencer Anna Tay Wan Enn, currently an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Year 5 student-athlete, and five classmates were the other ROAR Award recipients.

Anna was so moved by the plight of Migrant Workers in our community that she started a fundraising project ran from June to December 2020 via the Giving.sg platform. The donations, which totalled $25,120, went to the Migrant Workers Assistance Fund.

At the start, Anna relied heavily on her parents’ network for donations to meet her initial target of $5,000, while also sharing about her initiative to the Sports School community. So committed was she that she included a link to the Giving.sg fundraising page in a survey that she did for her Geography project.

However, the response from the community – including members of the public who chanced upon her online campaign – was overwhelming, squelching her fear of not being able to meet the original goal.

“Donations kept coming in that I had to I would have to edit the campaign goal almost daily, eventually setting it at $25,000. People were contributing up till the last day of the campaign that even the ‘final’ target was surpassed,” said the 16-year-old.

In November, she made a last-ditch effort to raise awareness on a large scale amongst Sports School student-athletes and staff. Rallying classmates Mandy Koh Mun Leng (Bowling), Irna Qistina Noorazlin (Shooting), Maxx Lee Yu Wei (Shooting), Ng Jing Ni (Track and Field) and Janelle Ng Shang En (Water Polo), they raised $500 through the sale of ice cream and pastries to schoolmates during the post-exam activities week.

“When the pandemic first started, the migrant workers were the most vulnerable group in our community, with the number of confirmed cases exceeding 700 a day. Migrant workers are part of the backbone of our country and I hoped to support them through these unprecedented times, to improve their living conditions and way of life.

“This project was a big eye-opener for me as it revealed the caring and generous side of Singaporeans. It was a valuable experience for me as I realised that there were many people so ready to give back to the community; all they needed was a platform to do so. I am very grateful for all the donations that came in and hope that everyone will continue to work towards creating a more positive and giving environment in Singapore.”