SINGAPORE, 20 March 2017 – Close to 20 beneficiaries of SPD, an organisation that helps people with disabilities, performed alongside more than 30 popular local and foreign artistes in a show of inclusion to raise $4.13 million so far at the SPD Charity Show 2017 telecast ‘live’ over MediaCorp Channel 8 last night. The amount includes $58,000 that was collected at the show’s outdoor segment where shoppers at nex shopping mall made donations for a taste of cuisines prepared by Singapore’s celebrity chefs Eric Teo, Heman Tan, Pung Lu Tin and Charlie Tham. The amount raised exceeded the $3.8 million target that was set for the show.
Themed “Where Dreams Inspire”, SPD’s clients sought to inspire all as they shared their stories of struggles, triumphs and what kept them striving for their dreams. The show was also part of SPD’s 10-week-long “Breaking Barriers” public education campaign aimed at promoting inclusion and better understanding of people with disabilities.
Mr Abhimanyau Pal, executive director of SPD, said: “This year has been a challenge for us on the fundraising front as we expanded our services to serve more people with varying disabilities in Singapore. We are certainly grateful to all our partners, donors, volunteers and supporters who have stood by us and supported us with their generous contributions to make the SPD Charity Show 2017 a success. We look forward to the continued support of everyone as we strive to deliver quality programmes and services to those who require them.”
From 27 February 2017 to the end of the show on 19 March 2017, donors made contributions of $10, $20, $50 and $100 by calling four donation hotlines. For each call made, an administration fee of $0.20 was levied with GST chargeable only on this fee, and not on the donated amount.
The encore telecast will be on 26 March and broadcast over Channel 8 from 3.30pm to 6.30pm. The donation hotlines will also stay open until midnight that day so the public can still call these numbers to make their donation:
1900-112 0303 for a $10 donation
1900-112 1313 for a $20 donation
1900-112 2323 for a $50 donation
1900-112 3333 for a $100 donation
Funds raised from the show will go towards helping over 5,000 people with disabilities that the organisation is currently serving through its programmes and services.