• FairPrice has clocked 1,400 volunteer hours in the past 6 months this year; an increase from 200 hours in 2011.

Cheers, the convenience store arm of NTUC FairPrice’s (FairPrice), has teamed up with Hock Cheong Automec for a charity car wash event between 10am to 1pm today at the Esso service station along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

Drivers were invited to donate $10 or more with all donations collected onsite going to Lions Befrienders Service Association. Mr Seah Kian Peng, CEO (Singapore), NTUC FairPrice, along with members of the senior management team from FairPrice and Cheers and volunteers from Hock Cheong Automec and Lions Befrienders Service Association, were present to do their part for charity by washing the cars during this event.

Mr Seah said, “Since the launch of FairPrice’s volunteer programme in May, we now organise and participate in volunteer activities with a more structured and sustained approach. In the last 6 months, our staff volunteers have chalked up some 1,400 hours of their time compared to just 200 hours for the whole of last year. Today, we are happy to support the work that Lions Befrienders does for the elderly through this charity car wash and thank the community for their participation in this meaningful cause.”

FairPrice had earlier launched the FairPrice volunteer programme in May this year that targets to increase staff volunteer hours to 2,300 hours per year by 2016. This programme is part of FairPrice’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework in caring for the community.

Mr Steve Er, Director for Hock Cheong Automec Pte Ltd, said, “We are honoured to have the opportunity to contribute to this fund raising effort for Lions Befrienders. Giving back to our own society is a privilege. We are glad to be part of this.”

A total of 130 cars were washed and more than $3,800 was raised from the event.

Mr Goh Boo Han, Executive Director of Lions Befrienders Service Association said, “We are thankful for the support from partners such as Cheers and Hock Cheong. Such community events not only help raise funds but also raises awareness of lonely and needy seniors living our community who need our help and support. We hope more organisations and volunteers will come forward to lend a hand in such initiatives.”

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About the adopted beneficiary – Lions Befrienders Service Association (Singapore)

Lions Befrienders was incepted in 1995 when it took over the running of the Befriending Programme from the then Ministry of Community Development. It’s mission is to aid in the psycho-emotional, social, and physical well-being of the lonely seniors through community participation. To achieve our mission, we run two core programmes i.e. Befriending and Outreach. Our island-wide Befriending Programme reaches out to about 2,700 lonely seniors, aged 65 years and above and who have limited or no family support, through weekly visitation by 900 trained volunteers. To complement our Befriending programme, we run an Outreach programme conducted through 6 Senior Activity Centres (SACs) located in Ang Mo Kio, Bendemeer, Tampines, GhimMoh, Clementi and Mei Ling. At these SACs, we promote active ageing and continuous learning by engaging about 2,200 seniors in a wide array of meaningful activities and courses. Till date, Lions Befrienders has served about 13,000 seniors under both programmes.