More often than not, children have the most curious minds. And nothing satisfies them more than giving them something to tinker with.

That’s how the distribution of Tinker kits came about, a programme initiated by Hopefull, the charity organisation that national golfer Jen Goh started with three of her friends in April. The group’s objective is to help children from low-income families get access to social and cultural resources — to inspire them to discover their potential.

The idea is to fill a box with learning materials, from books to tools, for every child to help them understand the world around them. The contents are based on a monthly theme, which Hopefull and its partners plan. For instance, the Tinker kits for August, which had Olympics as the theme (to mark the postponed international sporting event), included material such as an interactive map which showed the sports played in different countries.

The Younger Kids Tinker Kit for August included materials created in-house, such as a sticker pack and a map of sports played around the world. PHOTO: HOPEFULL

Goh, who moved back here from the United States two years ago, has extensive volunteer experience. Asked why she started an initiative that focuses on children, she shares: “I’m especially drawn to working with children and the youth, and in helping them become the best versions of themselves, because I feel like that kind of support and being able to chase my dream changed my life and led me to a path that I never thought would be possible.

“That’s what everyone at Hopefull truly believes in. And that’s why we are helping these kids out in whatever way we can. It’s really to help them to dream and have aspiration in the first place, which we think is something that every kid should grow up having.”

Getting Hopefull up and running

Hopefull started with four people, but today, it has about 40 volunteers that cater to 650 beneficiaries, who are identified by Hopefull’s partner social service organisations.

“We didn’t expect it to grow this fast but I think it’s a reflection of the demand for the boxes and for the specific type of service that we provide,” says Goh.

The growth in volunteers, she says, was organic, mostly brought by word of mouth. Among Hopefull’s supporters is Team Singapore team lead Mark Richmond, who helped connect the group to various sponsors.

When asked about his involvement, Richmond brought up a challenge he proposed to Goh, whom he considers his golfing friend, at the start of 2020 — to start an initiative that will make an impact and will be sustainable even if the athlete has to travel to international tournaments.

Youth Olympic Games and Team Singapore Athletes penned letters to the children in the August Tinker kit. PHOTO: HOPEFULL

“She was relentless in the way that she pursued it,” explains Richmond, who recalls getting a call from Goh when the latter decided to set up Hopefull. “Any athlete that comes to me with that sort of drive, that desire to make a change, make someone happy and all that stuff, how can I say no? I’m more than happy to support it.”

Helping with a heart full of hope

Tinker is Hopefull’s main programme at the moment, but Goh says the group is working to launch another programme called Lifelab, targeted at teenagers, to launch soon. “We’re looking into exposing them to sports, music, arts. It has the same idea as Tinker but on a more high-touch, more personal level,” she shares.

While Hopefull is still looking for volunteers to join them, Goh says the important thing right now is for more Singaporeans to step up and get involved in these kinds of initiatives. “It doesn’t have to be us, there are so many other amazing ground-up initiatives that started because of Covid-19. If Singaporeans just lend some of their time and effort to helping these initiatives, we’ll move forward together and I think that will be great.”

For those who are interested in supporting or volunteering for Hopefull, you are welcome to connect with the organisation through www.wearehopefull.sg or @wearehopefullsg on Instagram.