1/08/2006

let's start a charity - a proposal

as i meditate, there is nagging concern that something needs to be done for the poor kidney patients. it is, or it was the only charity that i regularly donated until i stopped a few years back. i did received many thank you letters from durai before. i find it unacceptable for people to have to pay to live. we pay for our food. everyone pays for food. but why should this group of people pay for dialysis without which they would die? and the dialysis is not cheap. it is a life sentence that they did not inflict on themselves, unlike aids or some diseases that you went out to court it. we now know that private hospital is charging $180 per dialysis. the new nkf charges $162. working on these two numbers, if we can start a charity that subsidises the full amount, or the patients need only pay whatever they can afford up to a maximum of $50, would not that be helpful? the donors money is like god's money. the money comes from the heart, never ending. the intent is to help. we should help the willing donors to process their money to the needy with minimum cost. if the patients cannot afford to pay a single cent, the charity must be able to pick up the full tab. the charity shall support as many patients as the donors are forthcoming and the fund is available. mission: to provide subsidies to kidney patients for dialysis treatment as much as the charity can afford. concept: the charity is to be run by volunteers who need not be paid market rate salary. all volunteers may be given an honorarium for their charitable work. only 20% of the donation shall be set aside as expenses, which will include honorarium, refreshment and transportation for the volunteers. no need to build hospitals or clinics. maybe no need for an office. but if funds allowed, a small office will do as the function of the charity is only to process funds, applications and administration of the patient and charity records. thus the operating cost of such a charity is very minimum. 80% of all donations shall go towards subsidising the dialysis fee. no other hidden cost, no big manpower bill, no big organisation to feed, no medical staff. maybe a few full time admin staff, if necessary. the patients can be referred to the charity from members of parliament or any charitable organisations. they will do the processing and screening for eligibility. a kidney patient is a kidney patient. this no one can hide. and all payments shall be directly paid to the hospitals or nkf or kdf or whichever approved providers. when to start: all those who are reading this can actually sound out to potential donors whether the concept is acceptable and ask for an indication of intent to donate to the charity. no collection of donation until the charity is officially approved and registered. ideally we would like to have donors donating like the lifedrop scheme of nkf. this we should thank durai for his concept. when the concept is well accepted and there are sufficient donors willing to come on board, some of you can come forward and volunteer to be founding members and sit in the board. warning, no big fees. only 20% of donations will be set aside to defray all expenses. all expenses and payments will be fully accountable and transparent. and if the charity really kicks off and substantial funds are flowing in, this 20% may be further reduced. this is a charity and people coming forward shall see their rewards in the service they provide to help the needy patients. ALL OF YOU WHO HAPPENS TO READ THIS, PLEASE PASS THE WORD AROUND. WE WILL USE THIS BLOG INITIALLY AS THE SOUNDING BOARD AND FOR FEEDBACK. LET'S SEE IF WE CAN REALLY DO SOMETHING AFTER ALL THE TALKS. REDBEAN.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

[quote from redbean]
concept: the charity is to be run by volunteers who need not be paid market rate salary. all volunteers may be given an honorarium for their charitable work
[/quote]

Good evening redbean. Although i agree that volunteers can be used to run a charity, how many people actually will put in all their time and effort to help the needy without returns?

Perhaps a better way is to measure the (minimum salary to keep an employee) to (patient subsidy ratio) so as to find a compromise.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi abao,

what you said is quite true. but there are still many who are willing to sacrifice their time and effort for free, just to do some charity work. i sm still helping out a little. and some of my friends actually work very hard in charity organisations, for free.

as an organisation, it is unfair to expect people to contribute time, money and effort for nothing. that is why the honorarium comes in. whether it is called a salary or something else is not that serious. the volunteers, especially those who contributed a lot of time must be paid something.

as for the staff, we need to pay them fair wages bearing in mind that it is a charity. and for the charity that i have in mind, there is no need for super talents. just some honest decent professionals, maybe those who have retired, who are not looking for another million to improve his ego.

just a ballpark figure, the ceo shall not be paid more than $8k. and a ceo is only needed when the charity has grown. not in the initial period.

it is a small outfit and without a wild ambition, it shall work with what it can raised. but shall inflation takes its toll in the long run, some adjustments can be made. but definitely not the kind that we see in commercial enterprises.

Anonymous said...

If this is the proposal you asked of me, I suugest that it may not be that possible...

Not possible because this doesn't answer to the basic questions... somehow.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

this is just an idea. the difference now is how to turn an idea into a reality. success is when idea becomes a reality. otherwise it is just a dream or forever be an idea.

Anonymous said...

Our government will not award you the necessary paperwork to start such a charity.

It will be a slap on our government's face if your idea takes off and succeed.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi anonymous,

on paper, this kind of charity is workable.

as for the licence? that is very far away. this could not even get off the ground. but no harm tossing the idea just for discussion.

even if we do not take it off the ground, if someone from the govt could take it up it will still benefit the needy patients.

Anonymous said...

As a start, you may want to get your MP preferably from Pay And Pay Party to endorse your idea. Have him/her escalate it up to the higher relevant authorities for blessing.

Once that is done, half the battle is won. You may then proceed with the necessary planning and paperwork.

In Singapore, nothing works without the blessing from the Top.

Hopes this helps you in getting the ball rolling. Just my 3-cents worth of advise.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

hi anonymous, thanks for the advice. going to the mp is perhaps the fastest route to kick start the project. but it could also be the longest route and maybe a stillbirth. there are other considerations which a mp might have to take into account.

also, it is better to keep the charity out of politics. better to get an individual or organisation to sponsor it intially. i have something in mind.

in another forum i am getting some people who have welcomed the idea and working on it now. as more interests are drummed up and people warm to it, then things can get going.

Elfred said...

Annoymous is probably right.

It is also why self-regulation needed for opening up, or simply opening up is merely some sort fiasco.

You can never ever have a mature society without a proper adjustment and basic grounds for it.

Which is why I can safely shrug off the talk about 'mature society'. Otherwise, all these years of training would have gone down the drain.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

there will always be flaws in systems and flaws in individuals. this is the human world.

Anonymous said...

Nope, Reddie... Why would there need to be revolution when we all know we'd end up in some... flaws.

MM Lee would then better give up what racial harmony thingy back then.

Here's something... What is the big big flaw, and who is the big big victim...

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

elfred,

this world is designed to go round and round. everything will go round and round. even in a political system, it will all start to do good. but a time will come when the picture becomes unclear, intentionally or otherwise. doing good can become doing evil. they could either be sincerely thinking that they are doing good or knowingly doing evil disguising as good.

religion is also a good case study. many are sincerely believing that they are doing good even when what they are doing are evil.

and many will pretend to do good to serve themselves.

and a revolution will start and things will look good for a few years before the rot sets in again.

Anonymous said...

So the point is? :D

(BTW) Uh... You told me you were a civil servant... Umm...

You could be a problem, Reddie. Civil servants generally have a political problem...

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

i was a civil servant.

not now. and i must say that i don't think like a civil servant except in areas of national interest.

Anonymous said...

Hahahahaha... Ok. Good say.

Nowadays, civil servants think anyohow but national interest... ... Hehehehe...

That's YOUR comment, NOT mine... Hahahaha...

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

now i am trying to figure out your thinking process.

Anonymous said...

So what then is the outcome of figuring...?