Marina Bay Sands’ charity festival celebrates 10th anniversary, raises S$4.6 million
To date, the festival has raised more than S$39 million since 2013
MARINA Bay Sands’ (MBS) annual charity festival was held at its Event Plaza from last Friday (Aug 23) to Sunday. The event is in its 10th year and raised about S$4.6 million, with all proceeds going towards charities.
The Sands for Singapore Charity Festival featured the Giving Marketplace, an upcycling initiative, food stalls from MBS’ restaurants, an ice cream pop-up booth and live performances by local artistes.
To date, the festival has raised more than S$39 million since 2013.
One initiative was Heartwork: Upcycling for Good, in which members of the public could make a token donation and turn plastic bottle caps into coasters and keychains. More than 35,000 bottle caps were upcycled. The funds were donated to Awwa for its Transitional Shelter programme, which provides displaced families with temporary housing.
Another initiative was the Giving Marketplace, featuring 16 booths selling handcrafted products, baked goods and lifestyle products. These were made primarily by beneficiaries from local organisations. All proceeds were retained by participants to support their causes.
One non-profit organisation that participated in the event was Art:Dis, which provides opportunities to persons with disabilities (PWDs) through art.
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The funds raised will go towards vocational programmes, so that PWDs can earn a livelihood through their art.
Angela Tan, Art:Dis’ executive director, said: “The opportunity to be at MBS – to be part of such a visible platform – enables us to shape and shift perspectives of what PWDs can and cannot do, and hopefully it’s a positive impression that our artists are able to leave.”
Community outreach and engagement
The festival follows 10 weeks of community engagement initiatives, in which more than 4,000 MBS employees participated. These include art jamming with Singapore Red Cross beneficiaries and celebrating National Day with seniors. More than 6,600 volunteer hours were generated.
Paul Town, MBS’ chief operating officer, said: “Most of our team members are Singaporean, and I think Singaporeans are very community-spirited… We have a very deep community engagement at our core, and I think our team members are drawn to that. That’s why we get such high volunteerism rates.”
The festival comes amid Singapore ranking third on Charities Aid Foundation’s World Giving Index 2024, which evaluated people around the world based on donation and volunteering rates.
On the sidelines of the festival on Saturday evening, the annual Community Chest Heartstrings Walk took place at MBS’ Event Plaza. More than 4,800 people participated in the 4.2 km walk around Marina Bay to support families in need, including Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who was guest of honour.
MBS donated S$200,000 to Community Chest and brought together 50 staff volunteers and 300 participants for the walk.
The festival is part of MBS’ community engagement programme Sands Cares.
Scoops of Hope’s return
This year, MBS brought back Scoops of Hope, an ice cream pop-up booth which was set up in 2015 and 2016. MBS rallied its food and beverage team, as well as chefs from its restaurants, to create 10 flavours including kaya, durian and soya caramel.
All sales proceeds will go towards supporting Metta School graduates with intellectual disabilities.
Felicia Wee, deputy executive director at Metta Welfare Association, said: “The funds raised through Scoops of Hope will be instrumental in supporting and enhancing our vocational training programmes and resources at Metta Cafe, to further hone their specific skill sets through on-the-job training in a commercial setting, leading to open employment in inclusive work settings.
“These serve to create employment opportunities for them, promoting independence and economic integration into society.”
A generous and giving Singapore
Singapore’s index score on the World Giving Index 2024 was 61 points, rising 19 places to rank third. A higher index score indicates that more of the country’s population is engaged with giving.
Tony Soh, chief executive of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), said: “Since the pandemic, not only has the government provided timely and supportive interventions to enable giving amid shifting trends in donations and volunteering, but the community has also stepped up and found innovative ways to channel resources to a range of causes and charities, via structured programmes or ground-up initiatives.”
A higher rate of volunteering contributed to Singapore’s rise – in line with findings from NVPC’s National Giving Study 2023.
The index, released last Thursday, also indicated that more Singaporeans are donating money in recent years.
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