Give back regularly under Community Chest’s new SGShare programme

Singaporeans are being encouraged to make a small monthly donation under a new national regular giving programme launched on Jan 18.

Called SGShare, the programme was launched to commemorate SG60 – the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence.

The new initiative builds on the Community Chest’s Share programme, which was launched in 1984 and encourages individuals and employees to donate a small amount of their monthly pay to charity.

The expanded SGShare programme will make regular giving more accessible, said Community Chest chairman Chew Sutat.

The Community Chest will work with government agencies, businesses, community groups, and institutes of higher learning to create more platforms and opportunities for contributions to SGShare, said the charity in a press release.

Mr Chew pointed out that under the old Share programme, donations were facilitated primarily through employers.

The Community Chest, started in 1983, is the philanthropic arm of the National Council of Social Service.

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who launched SGShare at the Singapore Expo on Jan 18, said there are about 260,000 donors and 2,000 companies on the older Share programme, who contribute more than $15 million annually.

These donations fund over 200 critical programmes for more than 82,000 people each year, such as counselling services to help people with disability gain independence, and social service support for lower-income families, he highlighted.

DPM Gan said that a spirit of giving should be nurtured and encouraged among Singaporeans, “as we build the next chapter of our Singapore story together”.

Noting that Singapore has made much progress as an economy, society and nation over the decades, Mr Gan said that “across the board, our people have seen their real income grow, and their standards of living improve”.

“But as with all societies, some will progress faster and further than others.

“Therefore, those who have more should give to those who may need more,” he said.

 

The public can make donations to SGShare through giving.sg at giving.sg/sg60share

Individuals can choose to either give $5 a month for a year, or give a one-time donation of any amount starting at $1.

Dr Peter Lim, chairman of MoneyMax Financial Services and SK Jewellery Group, said he decided to encourage his employees to join the programme after finding out from Community Chest’s Mr Chew that the charity’s programmes were not funded fully by the Government, and that it has to raise funds from donors.

“I conducted a town hall for all my staff and encouraged them to give back to society, by contributing a minimum of $1 a month to the Share programme,” he said.

All of the companies’ about 750 employees are on the programme, after it was rolled out for them in January 2024.

“After doing this, there has been a feel-good effect. The employees share about the programme with their friends, their family, and even our customers,” Dr Lim added.

 

Another employer encouraging its employees to contribute monthly is Sheng Siong Supermarket, which will enrol its employees on SGShare programme on an automatic inclusion basis.

Mr Lim Hock Leng, managing director of Sheng Siong, said the SGShare programme is “a simple, impactful way for employees to contribute”.

He said that Sheng Siong will match every dollar donated for a year – doubling the impact of employees’ contributions towards Community Chest – to encourage employees to stay on the programme.

“In line with the spirit of SG60, we hope Sheng Siong’s employees will contribute to SGShare as one,” said Mr Lim.

The SGShare initiative was launched at the Community Chest’s annual Fu Dai event, where more than 1,300 corporate and community volunteers packed and distributed over 9,000 festive bags to seniors and lower-income families islandwide.

Each Fu Dai, which means “bags of blessings” in Chinese, comprised household necessities that were sponsored by donors.

A total of $6,868,888 was also raised for the Community Chest as part of the Fu Dai event, which has been held annually since 2014 to mark Chinese New Year.