Charities Week 2020

by Caritas Singapore Community Council - The Caritas Singapore Agape Fund

God's Love in Action Jesus said I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. John 13:34 The Caritas family strives to make God's love a reality: something real and tangible. When people in need experience that love in action from us in helping them to see that there is more than the brokenness, pain and sadness, that there is hope and a better reality that they can move towards. Charities Week is an annual event organised by Caritas Singapore, the social and community arm of the Catholic Church in Singapore. Caritas Singapore is the umbrella body for 27 Catholic Charities that help the vulnerable and marginalised regardless of race or religion. It is also a member of Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation of over 160 humanitarian organisations. Donations to Charities Week 2020 will help the Caritas Singapore family continue our work on the ground to serve diverse and marginalised groups including low-income families, youths-at-risk, the incarcerated, people with physical disabilities, and also people with mental health problems.

Gracious Package

by Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers Association

Economic Impact of COVID-19 With the temporary closure of mosques and suspension of large-group events and classes, asatizah whose main source of income is from conducting religious activities and classes, will also be economically impacted. Part of Pergas' work is to ensure that the welfare of local asatizah is well taken care of especially in times of crisis and uncertainty. In doing so, Pergas is proposing a Gracious Package (GP) which may require the support of our community. Who Qualified? They are asatizah who are not under any full-time employment. They can be self-employed, independent and doing freelance teaching at their own capacity to fulfill invitation by mosques, madrasah, IECP and others. They may be active and semi-active on the ground. They must be ARS certified. For more details, visit https://www.pergas.org.sg/gracious-package/

Support The Courage Fund and help those affected by COVID-19

by Community Chest

The evolving COVID-19 situation has affected Singaporeans in one way or another, including individuals who are facing loss of income or families that are struggling with additional caregiving duties and additional expenses for essential items. The Courage Fund was first established in 2003 when Singapore was hit by the SARS outbreak. Fellow Singaporeans donated generously to the Fund to support those who were affected by the outbreak. In this same spirit of uniting the community to support one another through difficult times, Community Chest is rallying the community to provide relief and support to those affected by the current COVID-19 situation. Where Will Your Donations Go? Donations will go towards supporting and providing relief to vulnerable individuals and families, including healthcare workers, frontline workers and volunteers, affected by the COVID-19 situation. Find out more about The Courage Fund COVID-19 Relief Schemes and their eligibility criteria at https://www.ncss.gov.sg/thecouragefund. For further queries on relief schemes, please contact us at [email protected] For further queries on The Courage Fund, please contact us at [email protected] Let us stay united in the face of this challenge and we will emerge stronger together.

Donate to Bless: 1,000 Families in their time of need during COVID-19

by Methodist Welfare Services

The COVID-19 situation that we are currently in has resulted in extreme anxiety in the community. For the disadvantaged and vulnerable, the anxiety they feel is even greater. Distressed and low-income families may be facing more hardship when they earn less during this time or when they lose their livelihoods. Having little to no savings will likely cause them to experience more stress and go into debt. Many of them rely on part-time and multiple jobs to make ends meet. However, they struggle between heeding advisories to stay home and having jobs that cannot be done remotely. These families are now forced to choose between bringing food to the table and keeping themselves and their families safe. Methodist Welfare Services aims to raise $1.35m to provide financial assistance to 1,000 low-income families for one year. These funds will support them in meeting their basic needs, and having the resources to better prepare for and handle the direct impact brought about by COVID-19 on their lives. Let's stand together with the struggling families in our community!

Sayang Sayang Fund

by The Community Foundation of Singapore

A Call To Continue Rallying Together... THANK YOU to everyone who generously supported the community-driven Sayang Sayang Fund. We have far surpassed our initial target of $500,000! This was made possible with help from many private individual and corporate donors who donated to the fund directly or set up their own fund-raising pages. Transportation vouchers have already gone out to healthcare professionals in hospitals and polyclinics. We will soon be supporting other community healthcare staff and charities serving those who have been especially impacted by COVID-19's precautionary measures, such as vulnerable seniors and low income families. The pandemic will be here for a while and even as the economy slows down, many charities, hit by restrictions in fund-raising efforts, have begun bearing millions of dollars in lost donations. They need our help. That is why we want to keep the Sayang Sayang Fund open, to help make sure no one falls by the wayside during this challenging period. Your heart-warming outpouring of love and support truly brings to life the community spirit of the Sayang Sayang Fund. Thank you for your continuing support. (The Sayang Sayang Fund is a community impact fund to care for the vulnerable in our community during times of national crises.)

E-Learning Laptops for Our Boys

by Muhammadiyah Welfare Home

From April 2020, students in primary and secondary schools, as well as junior colleges and the centralised institutes, will have one day of home-based learning a week amid an increase in the number of imported Covid-19 cases in Singapore. The move was announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on 27 March 2020 as part of the enhanced measures taken by the government to stem the spread of the outbreak. Muhammadiyah Welfare Home (MWH) does not have enough laptops to share and facilitate the learning journey of our school-going residents as we try to comply with MOE's requirement. As such, we are appealing to generous Singaporeans to help us fund the purchase of 15 more laptops worth around $15,000 for our residents to enable them to carry out their learning in the safe environment of our Home. We thank you in advance and sincerely hope you will be able to help our residents continue their learning journey. Support this initiative today!

Urgent! Help us buy food now!

by Food From The Heart

Every one of us is affected by the current Covid-19 situation. No one is spared. The needy is hit even harder now. As a charity, we are not spared either. We have seen drastic drops in cash and food donations. Every month, we need 80,000 food items to feed the our affected families Food from the Heart is supporting monthly under the Community Food Pack Programme. Your donations cannot stop. Our work continues. This is to assure the needy of food on their table three meals a day. Donate generously to buy food items to help fill our food packs. Together, let's feed the needy in these tough times! *Note: FFTH applies 12.5% of your donation to keep our operations going.

Rice and other needs

by Linda for Marymount Centre

To receive a call in the evening from a staff of Marymount Centre, I knew it must be urgent. The children's homes with total capacity of 52 were down to their last bag of rice. Usual donations in kind had stopped. She explained they were having difficulties ordering rice and other necessities online. Delivery slots were unavailable due to demand. I quickly called a few friends and we rushed to physical stores and pleaded to buy more than 2 bags of rice each. By that evening our communal effort yielded 95kg of rice. Phew! More people heard about their plight and contributed. The kids consume about 200kg of rice a month. Besides rice, they need other things like cooking oil, toilet rolls, and cleaning agents. I admire the staff who diligently work to ensure these kids are well looked after. The current measures to manage Covid-19 have added to their workload. Let us help them to just focus on the care of the children without worry of securing food and other necessities. Your contribution will help Marymount Centre greatly. SGUnited

Groceries For All #SGUnited

by Children's Wishing Well

In this challenging time of COVID-19, many of our children and families are going through hard times due to the uncertain job climate. Many of our beneficiaries reflected to us that their income has been badly affected and how down they feel. Some may even face a loss of jobs if the economic situation does not improve for them. We would like to ease their financial burdens by providing them with some groceries that can help feed the family. Your donation can go a long way in helping them and making sure they are not left behind in times like these. No contribution is too small. We appreciate your kindness and generosity in helping these families!

Fight against COVID19 - Help keep our programmes and services running

by Abhimanyau Pal for SPD (formerly Society for the Physically Disabled)

We have seen some challenging times these past few months arising from the COVID-19 situation. Many businesses are affected, and so are many charities in Singapore. At SPD, we have seen a drop in donations as well as contract work for our sheltered workshop trainees. We foresee this will likely continue for the rest of the year or even longer. The question as to how we are going to sustain the same level of care and support to our clients with disabilities when our funds run low, weighs heavily on our minds. More than 200 persons with different disabilities attend our day care and sheltered employment programmes daily. This gives their caregivers time for rest and to go out to work. Over 6000 adults and the elderly receive a range of therapy services to help get them back on their feet so that they can be as independent and self-reliant as possible. Over 500 children with developmental needs are offered early intervention support twice or thrice weekly to give them equal opportunity to education. These are but some of the support that we offer persons with disabilities which are much-needed in their rehabilitation journey and have to continue - in good times and bad. Help us keep our programmes running, and give persons with disabilities the chance at leading a dignified and independent life. Please give generously through this campaign. Regards, Abhimanyau Pal Chief Executive Officer, SPD

Family Support Fund - COVID-19

by AMKFSC Community Services

Covid-19 worsens an already sluggish economy. In an economic downturn, low income families, especially those in daily rated or contract work, often experience a loss of employment on a prolonged basis thus worsening an already difficult financial situation. Living in close proximity in small rental flats in a high-density rental lock, low income families can also become more susceptible to the infection and spread of Covid-19. With most of the income going to basic needs such as food, education and lodging, low income families are not able to afford the additional expenses on sanitisers, masks, disinfectants etc. required for personal care and necessary precautions in the midst of Covid-19. Without a sense of financial stability, they are also less able to stay home when sick and seek early medical attention for fear of loss of income due to the lack of paid sick leave. This can have a downward spiral effect with longer term consequences for children and family health if timely support is not given to help them ride over the difficulties. Their well-being is our well-being; we come out stronger as a collective when the least, the lost and the last in our society are well taken care of. Help the affected families through a small gift, donate now!!