SBF Foundation raises S$1m from inaugural fundraising dinner

THE Singapore Business Federation Foundation (SBFF) on Friday evening launched its inaugural fundraising dinner to encourage businesses to actively participate in corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy.

Theresa Foo, chair of SBFF, said since the organisation's inception in November 2013, it has provided scholarships, internships, soft-skills coaching and overseas industrial attachments for more than 400 young adults across four programmes.

One of the programmes is Project IN, where SBFF collaborates with SG Enable to support young adults with intellectual disabilities and autism at the workplace via internships and on-the-job learning.

The programme also helps employers to build their capabilities and know-how on hiring and working with persons with disabilities.

Mrs Foo said, for a start, 19 young adults are on internships with three employers - Han's (F&B), National University Hospital and Sentosa Development Corporation.

She also thanked principal founding donor, Philip Ng of Far East Organisation for the gifting to SBF and SBFF of 22,000 square feet of office space at a new downtown development - The SBF Center - in addition to S$10 million to seed the foundation.

Mrs Foo also announced SBFF's partnership with the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) on a series of programmes that support companies and corporate leaders in their corporate giving journey.

The Singapore Roadmap for Corporate Giving aims to facilitate companies' understanding of their giving profile and tap useful resources to build capacity, capability, knowledge and network.

More than S$1 million was raised from the dinner, and it will go towards SBFF's efforts.

Held at Gardens by the Bay, the event was graced by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, and was attended by close to 500 prominent members of the Singapore business community.