Meet the teenage philanthropist behind 1000 Suns and YouthCORE
Social entrepreneur Brian Yip discusses how he cut his philanthropic teeth at a tender age – and why there is more to volunteering than helping others
Philanthropist and social entrepreneur Brian Yip’s passion for making a difference started early. Very early. Like, age five early.
“My earliest memory is helping out at a book fair,” says Yip, founder of charitable platforms 1000 Suns and YouthCORE. “Back then my mum instilled in me the importance of service and being involved in my community,” taking him along to recycling events, helping pack food for homeless people and visiting elderly people living in cage homes. “As I got older, it taught me about giving back and the importance of compassion.”
On his first day as its youngest-ever child care home volunteer, Yip “wasn’t sure how the kids would react to this guy who’s only 10 years older than them”, but “five minutes after I walked in, a baby girl grabbed onto my leg, looked up and smiled”.
He remembers her smile “shining like 1,000 suns”, which inspired his first charitable initiative, in 2022. “I founded 1000 Suns because, during Covid, I knew a lot of organisations were struggling to keep themselves alive.”