Meet Joanne Lee, a young and ebullient economics student studying in the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.
What is so special about this youthful woman? Well, she donated her internship pay that she got to the Children’s Wish Society of Malaysia (CWS). Just ask yourselves, would you do the same if you were in her shoes?
Actually, when Joanne started her internship, she wasn’t expecting a pay or a salary, for all she wanted was experience. But when she got to know that she would indeed be getting a pay, she decided to put it to good use instead of keeping it for herself.
Joanne explains that she first got to know of CWS and its struggle after volunteering for the ‘We Ate for Charity Durian Festival’ organised by CWS in 2008. She was supposed to go out with her friends, but instead, in the end, she convinced her friends to follow her for the charity event. She recalls, “I must say I had great fun and I did not regret helping!”
So, why did she donate her internship pay to CWS, and not any other charitable organisation? Joanne explains that she chose CWS because she was touched by the story behind the foundation of CWS, who have put back a smile onto the faces of numerous terminally ill children.
Although she realises that the sum she donated would at most be enough to cover one child’s wish, but she presses home the point, “If we all work together, we could bring back many many many many uncountable smiles that money cannot buy.”
Joanne had the value of helping those in need inculcated into her since she was a young girl. As a result of that, she has a soft heart for those in need. She says, “If there is something you can help the others without losing anything, why not?”
Therefore, I believe that we should all follow the example that has been set by this amazing woman. If help isn’t possible by financial means, then we should channel our strength and energy to help them. Joanne’s rhetoric is, “You never know however small the amount of money you donated, can play a BIG role in the life of the others.”
*This piece of writing was published in Niexter dated 4th March 2010.
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