1) Chopsticksnfireflies is a nonprofit organization that provides mentorship programs on weekends for orphans and autistic children in Singapore.
2) The program pairs privileged mentors with underprivileged children from orphanages and autistic schools to do fun activities with a $100 budget limit to teach the value of money.
3) Both mentors and children benefit by developing relationships they otherwise would not have, with mentors gaining perspective and children receiving love and support to develop confidence as they become adults. The program aims to foster a more harmonious society through greater social integration.
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
CHOPSTICKS & FIREFLIES
1.0 Executive Summary
Chopsticksnfireflies (a.k.a Chopstixnfireflys, C&F) is a dynamic nonprofit organization
based in its holistic guiding ideologies that nurtures underprivilieged kids i.e. Orphans and the
Autistic. This organization will begin as a weekend program of more privilege individuals (i.e.
social, intellectual, economic level) guiding less privileged kids from various orphanages and
autistic schools. Its intention will be to stay true to its 7 guiding ideologies such as stewardship
through mentorship and etc, thereby keeping it true to all stakeholders.
The program will form partnerships with community orphanages and the pathlight school to
facilitate mentorship programs. The weekend activities will incorporate a budgetary constraint of
$100 per activity (no more, no less). This weekend activities range from basketball tournaments,
free tuition to even a day at the park. The monetary limitation is imposed in order to impart an
important life lesson, the value of money, thereby inducing both parties i.e. mentors & recipients to
get creative despite the monetary constraint.
The recipients would be able to understand the value of money, which would bode well in
their growth into adulthood. Additionally, The mentors would understand the rationale that money
is not the root to all problems but time invested to solving a problem is the rationale to any issue at
hand.
Essentially, it is only through this intimate personal relationship, can a sense of
communitarianism be resstablished for all parties. In addition, this will give the recipient of
“LOVE”, the commitment to follow through on a path to adulthood with a sense of support,
confidence and purpose.
The mutual involvement from members of society at large and underprivilieged individuals
would serve as a healthy breeding ground for harmonious growth in society that would spur greater
peace and prosperity for the nation at large. This program combines both the identification of youth
having a turbulent trainsition into adulthood with the presence of a positive support system so as to
avoid the pitfalls that often times, derails young lives.
Over time, Chopsticksnfireflies will create a learning environment that will be an invaluble
resource to orphans, aspiring mentors and the nation at large.
Overall, the focus is slightly different at each level of their life but the goal remains the
same, empowering the SUPER KID by matching them with privileged individuals to make a
positive and meaningful change in their lives.
2. 1.1 Objectives
Chopsticksnfireflies is being established to provide a fun weekend mentorship program for
the 19 Orphanages in Singapore. The program will create a conduit by which aspiring mentors will
be matched with orphans to enjoy a weekend of fun-filled and educational activities together.
What does both parties (Mentors & Recipients) stand to gain?
From the perspective of the receipient i.e. SUPER KID, when repeated failures and rejection
is felt by underprivileged kids from society at large, the first feelings of dejection and anger begins
to develop in youth. While this resentment is only natural to an individual who has experience
intense levels of personal rejection, it can be channelled to a healthy and positive cause.
From the perspective of the mentor, i.e. privileged individual, it is often that one whom is
privileged, comes from an environment, with parental support, healthy friendships, financial
stability and emotional well-being. Most of the time, this emotional support gets channelled into
work in order to make more money, however, with greater involvement and interaction with the less
privileged, one will begin to “tend to their soul”. They would also begin to realize how important it
is to give back to society/pay it forward. This self-realization and growth to an individual would
then foster feelings of rootedness and personal investment in Singapore.
Synergistically, the amalgation and involvement of both parties would have a wider impact
on society as the involvement of either parties would foster relationships that would have otherwise
never existed before. This is often times true, in instances where society is stratified based on a
class-level, be it economically, socially. Chiefly, this reinforces the collectivistic nature of
Singapore's society, which bodes well for nation building at a tender age.
1.2 Guiding Ideologies & Mission:
7 Guiding Ideologies:
•Stewardship through Mentorship
•Communitarianism (Asian Values)
•Fun at Heart
•Frugality
•Multiracialism / Multiculturalism
•Freedom of Considerate Expression
•Theanthropically Inclusive
Mission:
to be written...
3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Why the name Chopsticks & Fireflies?
The first part of the name, Chopsticks, sprung out a a Chinese proverb that spoke of the
vulnerability of individualism and the importance of unity through teamwork. It spoke of the
effectiveness of nurturing individuals through imparting the significance of collectivism inspite of a
society that has become increasingly competitive and individualistic.
The second part of the name, Fireflies, serve as a representation of one of the most beautiful
creatures in the world. It is often times at night, camouflaged by the darkness of shadows, that you'll
find fireflies emitting their own light due to complex chemical reactions possessed within their
biology. This analogy is synonmous to orphans and autistic children. Often times, Orphans and
autistic children are often a demographic class that gets browsed over by society at large due to
circumstance beyond their control. Yet, it remains true that because of this void of expectation that
“TLC” would be of greatest utility and appreciation to this specific group.