Marina Bay Sands raises S$5.2 million at 11th edition of charity festival
New initiatives at this year’s event will go towards supporting The Food Bank Singapore and APSN Centre for Adults
[SINGAPORE] Marina Bay Sands (MBS) raised S$5.2 million at the 11th edition of its Sands For Singapore Charity Festival.
The event kicked off in end-July, before it ended with a three-day celebration from Friday (Sep 5) to Sunday. All proceeds will go towards its partner charities.
To date, the festival has raised more than S$45 million since 2013.
In addition to food stalls by MBS’ signature restaurants and live performances by local artists, this year’s edition featured new initiatives, such as Play for a Cause and The Sweet Collective.
Play for a Cause was a life-sized digital game, where players had to catch falling food items to form virtual food bundles. These will be matched to actual food bundles donated by MBS to The Food Bank Singapore, which will be distributed to beneficiaries.
For this year’s inaugural edition of the initiative, MBS will donate more than 1,000 food bundles.
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Lena Tan, head of brand and communications at The Food Bank Singapore, said: “We collect food surpluses, we pack food bundles, we work through beneficiary organisations – but we do everything behind the scenes.”
She added that this kind of public-facing event helps to raise awareness of what the charity does and garner more support.
MBS has supported the food bank since 2016 by donating unserved but safe-to-consume banquet food, and also supplying employee volunteers to help with its operations. This year, it enhanced its support when the charity became the newest member of the Sands Cares Accelerator programme.
Besides receiving US$100,000 annually over three years, MBS will provide structured guidance and mentorship.
Nicholas Ionides, senior vice-president of communications and corporate affairs at MBS, noted: “Large corporates like us focus on donations and staff volunteerism. Both of those are very important, and we continue to do those in great numbers, but what we’ve moved towards in recent years is the additional aspect – capacity-building and mentorship.”
Sweet ideas
Meanwhile, MBS also supported social service agency APSN via sales of desserts. The Sweet Collective featured a box of tarts, and A Sweet Step Forward was a month-long initiative where proceeds from the sale of specially created desserts in seven restaurants were donated.
Royce Seah, chairman of APSN Ltd, said: “Funds raised go directly to APSN Centre for Adults, where over 230 trainees with mild intellectual disabilities receive training in cafe operations, catering, bakery and production of artisanal products and curated gift sets. These programmes not only equip trainees with job-ready skills, but also build their confidence, independence and resilience.”
MBS’ partnership with APSN began in 2013 when it supported the training kitchens at APSN Katong School, enabling 200 students each year to receive vocational training.
“APSN’s partnership with MBS has evolved from an initial focus on infrastructure support to a holistic collaboration that empowers persons with special needs through skills, confidence and opportunity-building,” he added.
The Giving Marketplace returned for the fourth time to the festival, in which 16 local non-profits and social enterprises sold handcrafted products, baked goods and more. All proceeds were retained by the participating organisations.
In addition, for Singapore’s 60th anniversary of its independence this year, MBS has partnered Community Chest for a three-year pledge of S$750,000 under the SG Gives Matching Grant.
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