What started out as a hobby and way to de-stress, soon become a means for her to do good...When colleagues started offering to pay for her yummy bakes, she was inspired to bake and raise funds for a good cause!
With more than 30 years of work experience in healthcare, Jasmine Lim of National Heart Research Institute Singapore (NHRIS), started her career in healthcare as a nurse. Although she is no longer a nurse today, she continues to give back to healthcare in various ways.
On weekdays, her role involves her auditing medical records and helping to ensure that every step of a patient’s medical journey in NHCS is in accordance with the highest level of patient safety and quality of care. On weekends when she is not working, you can find her in the kitchen—baking to raise funds for cardiovascular research!
Doing Good through Baking
A petite lady with a big heart – Jasmine is often seen offering her yummy bakes to colleagues every now and then, making sure that everyone around her is well-fed. She enjoys sharing her bakes with her family, friends and colleagues for their feedback. “It brings me a lot of joy when people like what I bake,” she shared with a smile.
A variety of bakes done by Jasmine over the years.
What started out as a hobby and way to de-stress, soon become a means for her to do good. Her baked products, pictured above, were always highly sought-after. When colleagues started offering to pay for her yummy bakes, she was inspired to bake and raise funds for a good cause!
On a yearly basis, Jasmine now bakes and donates her baking sales proceeds to the
NHCS Heart To Heart Fund. To date, she has helped to raise more than $7,000 to support the advancement of cardiovascular research in NHCS.
“I hope that my donation proceeds can help to play a part in advancing cardiovascular research breakthroughs in NHCS,” she shared, with an aspiration to do more for cardiovascular research. “With more resources, our researchers will be able to find cures and develop new treatments for cardiovascular diseases, bringing hope to our patients and generations to come,” she urged.
Giving in Her Own Way
On what has inspired her to fundraise in her own way, Jasmine’s reason is simple – “I want to give, because I can.” While many people had asked her to start a business to sell her baking goodies, Jasmine always declined politely. “I like to bake, and this is what I want to do. It is certainly more blessed to give than to receive.”
Despite the long hours in the kitchen, she has never once thought of stopping her fundraising endeavour. “If I can afford to give the time, money and effort, I will continue to do it for as long as I can,” proclaimed Jasmine, who sets a higher fundraising goal for each of her baking sales each time, so as to motivate her to raise more funds.
(L-R): One of Jasmine's highly sought after bakes - light, fudgy and chewy brownie. Perfect for tea break!; Jasmine and fellow colleagues who supported her fundraising endeavour for President's Challenge during the pandemic.
The success of her fundraising endeavour does not come easy, but with sweat and hard work. Before the launch of each of her campaign, Jasmine goes through multiple trials and errors, and conducts surveys with different target groups to garner feedback on her pricing and ways to make her bakes better. She takes her compliments and feedback very seriously. “I prefer honest feedback, so I can improve and make it better. If they don’t like it, it’s fine. I might be affected, but it motivates me to do better in my next bake.”
When asked if she has any tips to share with people who would like to embark on their own fundraising campaigns, she explained, “It is vital to conduct market research prior to starting any fundraising campaign. By knowing what’s trending and appealing to the general public, people are more inclined to donate and support.” She lets us on a secret. “Singaporeans are more interested in food, so it’s easier to attract them to donate through food!”
Making a Difference Starts Today
Cardiovascular disease remains one of the top killers globally. With an ageing population and the complexity in health needs, the risk of heart disease is on the rise, and there is an urgent need to combat cardiovascular disease. Your gift towards the NHCS Heart To Heart Fund will help to fuel research projects with new discoveries to improve health outcomes for patients in Singapore and around the world.
