• About 25,000 beneficiaries from the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook priority scheme and almost 30,000 NTUC-U Care Fund beneficiaries invited to collect free donated textbooks and purchase school essentials at discounted rates of more than 50 percent at joint event held at Our Tampines Hub
• 550,000 donated books available for collection, the highest amount received in the project’s 37-year history

SINGAPORE, 7 December 2019 – NTUC FairPrice (FairPrice) and NTUC-U Care today launched the third edition of the joint collaboration of the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook and NTUC Back to School initiatives to help defray the cost of school expenses for low-income families. This year, the fair takes place from 10.00am to 8.00pm on 7 and 8 December 2019 at Our Tampines Hub.

Almost 25,000 beneficiaries from the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook priority scheme, along with almost 30,000 NTUC-U Care Fund beneficiaries comprising NTUC union members and their school-going children, have been invited to obtain textbooks and school essentials on 7 December 2019 – a day before it is open to the general public.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, Group CEO, FairPrice Group, said, “The FairPrice Share-A-Textbook is one of our signature community initiatives. We are encouraged by the community’s continued support which has helped us achieve our target of 550,000 textbooks this year. This is the highest number collected in the 37-year history of this programme.”

Mr Seah added, “This result would not have been possible without the generosity of the community and our volunteers who have given so much of their time and effort to this project. Together with NTUC-U Care’s Back to School initiative, we are better able to reach out to the less fortunate among us, to help defray the cost of school expenses.”

Ms Ng Hsueh Ling, Managing Director, Singapore at Lendlease said, “Parkway Parade has been serving the community Mr Zainal Sapari, Assistant Secretary-General and Director, Care and Share Department, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said, “Through our continued partnership with FairPrice Share-A-Textbook, we are glad to help our union members enjoy great savings off the usual year-end school-related expenses for their children. Beyond financial assistance, we have also lined up stage activities that promote strong inter-family relationships and help parents and children navigate around challenges of an increasingly connected digital society. In this way, we hope to uplift the lives of our union members in a more holistic manner, making a difference in their everyday lives.”

Distribution of Textbooks

Today, about 25,000 beneficiaries aged seven to 16 years old, from the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook priority scheme have been invited to select from 550,000 textbooks generously donated by the public via donation points at more than 170 stores island-wide, the highest number of stores involved in the donation drive to date. Additional donation points this year included Tampines Changkat Community Club, Tampines North Community Club, and Tampines West Community Club.

Over 1,200 volunteers, from community partners and schools, along with FairPrice staff and members of the general public, were involved in the collecting, sorting and organising of textbooks for the FairPrice Share-A-Textbook Project.

Fair for Schooling Essentials

Beyond textbooks, 30,000 NTUC-U Care Fund beneficiaries comprising NTUC union members and their school-going children have been invited to attend the 15th Back to School fair held within the same premises. The fair is organised to complement the U Care Back to School Voucher programme, where a total of close to S$2.5 million has been disbursed to beneficiaries in 2019. Each successful applicant is given a booklet of U Care Back to School Vouchers worth S$125 for each eligible school-going child.

Beneficiaries of the programme will be able to maximise use of their Back to School vouchers at the fair, which offers exclusive deals and special promotions on school-related merchandise, including school bags and shoes, assessment books and stationery, offered by participating merchants.and hand sanitisers have been made available for use. Additionally, they also have their temperature taken at least twice a day.

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