MEDIA company Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has donated more than $3 million and helped raise over $6 million for the community this year.
Among those who benefited were charities, school children, and arts, education, wildlife conservation and sports groups.
The $3 million included an annual donation of $400,000 by SPH and SPH Foundation to the Community Chest of Singapore.
Besides cash donations, SPH also gives back to the community in other ways.
Yesterday, it hosted more than 100 people, including 64 children from the Singapore Children's Society and Kampong Kapor Family Service Centre, to lunch, games and a lucky draw at its Toa Payoh premises under the Boys' Brigade Share-A-Gift project. Management and staff had adopted and fulfilled about 300 wishes and donated food items to the Boys' Brigade, totalling about $18,000.
Other SPH charitable events include the SPH Flea Market in aid of The Salvation Army, and the SPH Red Apple Day, a biannual blood donation drive with the Singapore Red Cross.
SPH's various products have also helped to raise funds for different causes:
The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund helps 11,000 primary and secondary school students from low-income families with school-related expenses. As of October, the fund has raised $5.69 million.
From July, the amount that each child received a month was raised by $10 because of rising inflation. Primary and secondary school students received $55 and $90 respectively.
The New Paper partnered the Lions Befrienders Service Association and Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Project Helping Hands to raise funds for 1,000 elderly people living alone.
Under the project, wireless motion sensors were fitted in their flats to track their movements.
An SMS is sent to a caregiver if it detects an unusually long period that the elderly person spends motionless. About $792,000 of the $1 million target has been collected.
- The Chinese Newspapers Division gave out $50,000 worth of book vouchers, sponsored by Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, to needy students at the Singapore Book Fair.
It also raised about $121,000 for the President's Challenge 2011 through a dance drama.
- The ChildAid concert, organised by The Straits Times and The Business Times, is being held at the University Cultural Centre until tomorrow. It hopes to raise at least $1.7 million for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund.
SPH CEO Alan Chan yesterday said that besides supporting worthy causes, the company also encourages its staff to initiate or take part in charity events.
'Through these combined efforts, we hope to inspire more people to come forward and make a difference in someone's life,' he said.
