SINGAPORE - NTUC FairPrice's charity arm, FairPrice Foundation, has committed to donating $2.6 million to support low-income families this year to mark the 44th anniversary of the supermarket chain's founding.

The amount will benefit such families under the NTUC-U Care Fund and will be raised from contributions from the community through the "We Care for families b'coz U Care" initiative.

The initiative will donate the proceeds from August's sales of FairPrice's housebrand bread at the supermarket chain's 299 outlets.

Last year, "We Care for families b'coz U Care" initiative had donated the same amount to the fund for every purchase of housebrand product.

Said Mr Seah Kian Peng, chief executive officer of NTUC FairPrice, on Monday (July 31) at a FairPrice Xtra outlet in Kallang Wave mall: "FairPrice is here to make lives better and we remain committed to our social goals of serving the community."

Mr Zainal Sapari, Assistant Secretary-General and Director of NTUC's Care and Share Department said that with FairPrice's network of outlets and customer support, "we hope to get the community involved in our efforts to help the less fortunate".

The NTUC-U Care Fund has been around since its set up in 2009 and, through its efforts to better the welfare of low-income union members, the fund has collected a total of $24.3 million through the donations from FairPrice Foundation. Donations come i n the form of U stretch and Back To School vouchers.

To kickstart the campaign, FairPrice invited five of the beneficiaries and their families on Monday to shop for $50 worth of groceries at the FairPrice Xtra in Kallang Wave mall.

Madam Zalinah Zakaria, 49, a part-time crew member with a fast food restaurant who has been under the NTUC-U Care Fund for about six years, said that she has benefited from the fund in many ways.

The mother of five children, aged between 13 and 20, said that the fund has "helped me with my children's studies, allowances and school fees".