22 May 2003
Ronald McDonald did a magic trick and out came a cheque for $115,000. Of course, it was not really magic, but a dollar collected for every Meal sold on May Day, which it donated to The Courage Fund.
Including McDonald’s, a total of five companies and one association shared their stories behind each donation at this afternoon’s cheque presentation ceremony. All had one common reason for giving to The Courage Fund, to show their appreciation to the valour and commitment of healthcare workers in Singapore and to help SARS victims.
The five companies and association are Shell Companies in Singapore, McDonald’s Restaurants, Canon Companies in Singapore, B Braun Singapore, NEC Corporation and the Indian Women’s Association.
Shell Companies pledged $280,000 being 5% of the total petrol sales from 12 to 16 May. Apart from the $115,000 from McDonald’s, an additional $21,034.43 was donated by its patrons between 2 to 18 May. Compassionate staff of Canon companies in Singapore and NEC Corporation raised $54,771 and $12,000 respectively.
B Braun Singapore, a healthcare supplies company, donated $20,000 in Singapore in addition to similar donations made to other SARS stricken areas of China and Hong Kong. The Indian Women’s Association gave $10,000. “We took the money out of our kitty because we appreciate that Singapore has done such a good job fighting SARS and made it such a safe place for us and our children to live in,” said Mrs Radhika Kothari, President of the Association.
Apart from these companies, a customer of Standard Chartered Bank along with the bank’s staff in Singapore also donated $80,300. A*STAR’s 3,421 staff and its scholars also pooled together $36,000.
The strong support from companies garnered $346,736.83 for The Courage Fund today.
A group of Singaporeans studying in Peking University, paying scant heed to the SARS situation in Beijing, pooled their resources to raised $600 for the Fund. Their donation brings today’s public donations to $35,075.25.
The daily breakdown is as follows:
Corporate Donations $5,736,107.32
New donations today $346,736.83
Total to date $6,082,844.15
Public Donations $3,391,037.57
New donations today $35,075.25
Total to date $3,426,112.82
The Fund to date stands at $9,508,956.97. This sum does not include the government’s $1M contribution and dollar-for-dollar match.
How to make a donation to The Courage Fund?
(A) Organisations
Organisations interested to raise funds towards The Courage Fund are welcome to write in with their promotion concept with details such as type of product, % of sales revenue to be pledged and wordings to be used in the advertising and/or promotional materials. Please write in to:
The Courage Fund
c/o National Healthcare Group
6 Commonwealth Lane
Level 6 GMTI Building
Singapore 149547
Alternatively, email us at couragefund@nhg.com.sg or call us at 6471 5933.
(B) By Cheque
A crossed cheque made payable to “The Courage Fund” should be sent to The Courage Fund, c/o National Healthcare Group, 6 Commonwealth Lane, Level 6 GMTI Building, Singapore 149547.
For the purpose of issuing receipts, donors are encouraged to include their full name, address and contact number on the reverse sides of cheques. Donors should not send any cash by mail. Cash donations can be made in person at National Healthcare Group office.
(C) By Phone
Members of the public can donate to the fund by calling 1900-112-1333. This service is provided by Singtel.
(D) By Internet Banking
DBS and POSB customers can donate to The Courage Fund via DBS Internet Banking and DBS Internet Kiosks. DBS Internet Banking is available at www.dbs.com/ebanking/internet/login and DBS Internet Kiosks are located island wide.
(E) By AXS Stations
Make a donation by simply touching on THE COURAGE FUND button on the right panel of the screen of any AXS station. Call 6560 2727 or visit www.axs.com.sg for locations
(F) Community Chest Donation Boxes
The 777 donation boxes are available at:
- Public hospitals and polyclinics
- Thomson Medical Centre
- Twin City Medical Group (at Takashimaya)
- Sin Chong Medical Hall (at Pearl Centre and People’s Park Centre)
- East Shore Hospital
- American Club
- Changi Airport Terminal 1 & 2
- Chinatown Hawker Alley
- Cold Storage Supermarket outlets
- Giant Hypermarket outlets
- Photo Finish outlets
- Guardian Pharmacy outlets
- 7-eleven outlets
- McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks outlets
- Nanyang Polytechnic (Nursing Dept), National University of Singapore (Medicine Faculty), Raffles Junior College
- NTUC Fairprice Outlets (Ang Mo Kio, Bedok North, Bedok Reservoir, Bishan, Bt Ho Swee, Bt Timah Plaza, Choa Chu Kang, Choa Chu Kang Lot 1, Clementi, East Point, Geylang East, Hougang Mall, Hougang Point, Hougang St 21, Kallang Bahru, Marine Parade Central, Marsiling, Queenstown, Rochor, Serangoon, Shaw Plaza, Simei, Singapore Post Centre @ Eunos, Sun Plaza, Tampines Mall, Thomson Plaza, White Sands, Woodlands and Yew Tee)
- NTUC Trade Union House
- Paragon Shopping Centre
- People’s Association HQ (Kallang)
- Singapore Conference Hall
- Singapore Institute of Management
- Singapore Management University
- Singapore Mint
- Stadiums on nights when there are S-League matches
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