HITTING the bull's eye never felt so meaningful.

At HSBC's "Darts of Charity" event last night, the bank raised $69,792 for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund.

Every point earned in darts saw HSBC pledge $16, in celebration of 16 years of its Volunteers@HSBC programme. A bull's eye, worth 50 points, would have brought in $800.

And there were quite a few scored, as Acting Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing and Mr Guy Harvey-Samuel, group general manager and chief executive officer of HSBC Singapore, tested their skills. The CEO's team scored 1,218 points, raising $19,488, while Mr Chan's team came close behind with $19,440.

Joining them were Mr Han Fook Kwang, managing editor of Singapore Press Holdings' English and Malay Newspapers Division, and The Business Times editor Alvin Tay. Their teams raised $18,256 and $12,608 respectively.

HSBC yesterday also donated $300,000 to fund education programmes at six charities under the Community Chest, including the Early Intervention Programmes for Infants and Children under Fei Yue Community Services and the Spastic Children's Association of Singapore.

EUGENE CHUA