Rebecca (left) and Rachel during their holiday in Perth.
Photo: Rebecca and Rachel.

Using our gifts for worthy causes

Rebecca Lim and Rachel Lim, sisters aged 15 and 12 respectively, discovered a love for designing, creating and selling earrings. Together, they formed ‘Sista Act’ to use their talent to support worthy causes. They share their story and why they decided to direct their latest fundraising efforts towards the Catholic Hub.

Rebecca and Rachel come from a close-knit household, consisting of their parents, grandmother, and two younger brothers Isaac, 10 and Nathanael, 4. As a family, they are part of the parish community of the Church of the Divine Mercy and pray a decade of the rosary every night.

Sista Act’s beginnings

Following the completion of her Primary School Leaving Examination in December 2021, Rebecca began searching for activities to occupy her time. She learnt of an earring-making workshop and, together with Rachel, enrolled in it. There, they discovered their interest and love for the craft, and began studying trends and ideas to conceptualise their own designs.

Rachel started the ‘Summer Ray’ brand as an avenue to make some money from her newfound passion. At this time, her parents advised her to consider using her gifts not only for her own benefit, but to think about how she can use her gifts for others too.

Rachel said, “As a family, we agreed that all proceeds from the introduction of the first batch of earrings titled ‘The First Fruits Collection’, would go to God. We chose Canossaville Children and Community Services as the beneficiary of our first fundraising activity.”

Rebecca joined Rachel a year later and rebranded the initiative as ‘Sista Act’, derived from Rachel’s nickname for Rebecca, ‘Sista’, and ‘Act’ to represent the act of using their gifts for causes in need. Among the designs of their second project, ‘Joyful Collection’, the sisters created a special edition ‘Freedom to live with dignity’ earrings – proceeds of which were donated to Marymount Centre. The sisters also set up a booth at the Novena Youth Rally flea market in September 2022, where proceeds from the booth was donated to the Church of Saint Alphonsus (Novena Church) to help raise funds for the church.

Rachel explained, “Although we are building ‘Sista Act’ to be a business, we also recognise the need to fundraise for worthy causes.”

Growing together

On top of allowing Rebecca and Rachel to do good as they explore their passion, these fundraising projects have brought them closer together and taught them valuable lessons.

Rebecca shared, “Sometimes when I am struggling to make a piece of jewellery that Rachel designed, she will come over to help. Similarly, when Rachel needs help, I try my best to help her too. We also had to learn to manage our time well so we can juggle school and other activities, and still meet our production deadlines.”

Occasionally, the weight of the tasks can be tiring for the sisters. Despite the challenges, the sisters remind themselves that their efforts are for a good cause and that they have to stay focused to complete their tasks.

The encouragement and support from their family have also been crucial to their work. At times, their parents and grandmother would pitch in to help with quality control & packing, while Isaac does his part by taking care of Nathanael.

Supporting the Catholic Hub

The idea to fundraise for the Catholic Hub came to the sisters at Mass. While praying for God to show them who needed their help, they were prompted to support the Catholic Hub when they saw a video about it during Mass at the Church of Divine Mercy in October 2023.

Rachel said, “Coincidentally, we came across an earring charm that reminded us of the ‘Tree of Life’, which we felt was meaningful to be used to fundraise for something so important to the Church.”

“The tree of life symbolising eternal life in Heaven, is mentioned in Revelation 2:7, 22:2, 22:14 and 22:19, Jesus reveals that He is the true vine and we are His branches (John 15:5). We believe that, much like how a tree trunk supplies water to its branches, the ‘Tree of Life’ also represents the work of Catholic Foundation in reaching out to the community to raise funds for the Archdiocese to spread the goodness of God.”

She added, “We hope that when the Catholic Hub is completed, there would be more activities like flea markets where we can raise funds for more causes!”

Through this project, the two sisters aim to raise at least $25,000 for the Catholic Hub building project. As a token of appreciation, the first 100 donors who contribute the sum of $100 or more to their fundraising project to support the Catholic Hub building project will receive a pair of ‘Tree of Life’ earrings.

Please support ‘Sista Act’ in their latest fundraising activity for the Catholic Hub, and make our Archdiocesan spiritual oasis a reality.

From now till Easter Sunday (31 March 2024), as a token of appreciation, the first 100 donors who contribute the sum of $100 or more to their fundraising campaign in support of the Catholic Hub via the link below will receive a pair of “Tree of Life” earrings designed and handcrafted by them. Visit www.catholicfoundation.sg/tree_of_life  for more information and to contribute to Sista Act’s fundraising efforts.