Alfestco together with Cheers and FairPrice Xpress launch National Car Flag project with a charity car wash event; all donations from charity car wash go to CARE Singapore.

NTUC FairPrice’s (FairPrice) convenience store arm, Cheers and FairPrice Xpress, together with the support of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and Hock Cheong Group, is partnering Alfestco for the “National Car Flag Project 2011” in celebration of Singapore’s National Day. The Project kicked off with a charity car wash event today at the FairPrice Xpress, Esso service station at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8. Drivers were invited to donate $10 or more with all donations collected on site going to Children-At-Risk Empowerment Association (CARE Singapore). Each car also received a National Car Flag. Mr Seah Kian Peng, CEO (Singapore), NTUC FairPrice, along with beneficiaries and staff of CARE Singapore, were present to wash the cars during this charity event.

Mr Seah said, “This is the second year we are involved in the National Car Flag Project and we are proud to continue to reach out to the community through this meaningful initiative. Through this project, we are able to celebrate National Day with our customers, and with their support, to help make a difference in empowering and changing the lives of our youths through CARE Singapore.”

The National Car Flags are now available at all 66 Cheers and FairPrice Xpress Esso service stations island-wide. Each car flag is sold at $5, of which $1 is donated to CARE Singapore.

“We hope drivers will join us in experiencing the fun and pride in flying the Singapore Flag. It’s also an opportunity to connect with other Singaporeans through National Day. In addition to this, it is most heartwarming to know that while celebrating the nation, we are lending a helping hand to support youths from CARE Singapore.” says Ian Choo, co-founder of Alfestco.

As part of the National Car Flag Project this year, Alfestco has also worked with the youths of CARE Singapore to produce a deck of “Happy Family” game cards. One deck of these “Happy Family” game cards will be given out with the purchase of each Car Flag. The game cards are played like the classic card game of the same name, with additional bonus cards like “Respect” and “Care”, which promote values that build a resilient family. The card game encourages bonding during family play time. “By showcasing illustrations by these youths in these cards, we increase their self-esteem tremendously,” says Lee Han Pin, co-founder of Alfestco, who oversaw the creation of these cards.

Ms Adelyn Poh, Co-founder and Director of Enterprise at CARE Singapore, added, “We are thankful for the support from Alfestco, Cheers and FairPrice Xpress. Our youths enjoyed being actively involved in the creation of the special game cards and in today’s car wash event. We hope many Singaporeans will support this project and help contribute towards the future of our youths.”

The “National Car Flag Project” is an initiative by local festival gifts company Alfestco. The project was first launched in 2009 to encourage Singaporeans to fly the Singapore Flag on their vehicles as a display of their love and loyalty to the nation. To further support nation and community building, the project adopts a charity and donates a percentage of its proceeds from the sale of these car flags to that charity. This year’s charity partner is CARE Singapore, a charity that specialises in helping vulnerable youths turn their lives around.

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About Alfestco

Alfestco aims to be the most heart-warming creator and seller of Festival Gifts. Being the most heart-warming means our gifts will bring laughter and joy to the people who make them, sell them and buy them. Alfestco believes in self reliance before doing good, and aims to create a financially regenerative business system that channels at least 25% of project profits back into every society that they operate in. We aim to have a representation in every major city of the world, and to be a profitable company with the resources, heart and soul to help the societies that we operate in.

Alfestco is the organiser for both annual projects “The Little Christmas Hat Project” and “The National Car Flag Project”. Since inception, Alfestco has donated more than $100,000 via these projects to worthy local charities.For more information, please visit www.alfestco.com.

About the adopted beneficiary – Children At-Risk Empowerment Association (CARE Singapore)

Children-At-Risk Empowerment Association (CARE Singapore) is a non-profit, voluntary welfare organisation, member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and registered charity with an Institution of Public Character (IPC) status.

The organisation was formed in 1997 by a group of concerned professionals who recognise that “It is far easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”. CARE’s approach is upstream preventive and we work with schools to reach out to youths at risk of academic failure, who display behaviour problems, emotional maladjustment, suicidal tendencies and juvenile delinquency. Our speciality is in helping vulnerable youths turn their lives around. Every child can succeed, and by being there for those who need a little more support, we can help change their future.

CARE is also an NCSS-appointed Centre of Specialisation for Youth Empowerment tasked with raising service quality and standards for youth work in Singapore.

In the words of President S R Nathan, participation in CARE’s work “is an investment that will reap handsome and long-term rewards by way of actualised potential and overall social stability.”

For more information, please visit www.care.sg