• Over 50 secondary and primary schools are running Giving Stores in their school
• Over 43,000 Good Deeds pledged within five months

In less than five months since the launch of the “Do Good” initiative by NTUC FairPrice Foundation to encourage youths to do good, more than 43,000 good deeds have been pledged. Launched in late March this year, the initiative is themed “Small Deeds Big Differences”, to illustrate how a small deed can make a difference to someone’s day.

One of the main touchpoints of the “Do Good” initiative was the Giving Store, a store built into the back of a truck, which went around Singapore giving out snacks. Visitors to the store could pick any snack they wanted in exchange for pledging a good deed. Each snack represented a good deed from FairPrice Foundation, which the Foundation hopes each visitor will pass on. Before the Giving Store retired in early August, it visited a total of 14 locations, which included tertiary institutions and public venues.

In the latest phase of The “Do Good” initiative, the Giving Store toolkit has been introduced for students to recreate the Giving Store on their own in their schools. It has seen strong support, with 50 secondary schools and 6 primary schools, signing up to receive a toolkit, which provides students with material to set up a simple booth.

Mr. Lum Hon Fye, General Manager, NTUC FairPrice Foundation said, “We are excited that the initiative has seen such encouraging support from youths. Apart from pledging good deeds at a personal level, many are also passionate about spreading the word. This is the catalytic effect we have hoped the initiative will have.”

One example is Bishan Park Secondary School. The school has been running the Giving Store challenge since 7 August 2013, and has nine student Scouts and Guides volunteers assisting to manage the programme.

Mr Michael Tan, Vice-Principal of Bishan Park Secondary School, said, “We believe in building a culture of care in our school and this initiative dovetails nicely with our vision to inculcate a caring community and nurture contributing citizens. It is a fun and meaningful way to encourage students to do good deeds and for them to understand how a simple act can go a long way.”

Good deeds pledged on the www.DoGood.sg microsite include initiatives by the youths to help their parents with household chores, motivate another person to exercise with them or even to give roses in appreciation of someone. The interactive microsite, also hosted on the Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/DoGoodSG, enables youths to earn virtual badges celebrating special milestones in completing the deeds they have pledged and share inspirational stories of deeds that have made a difference to others.

Members of the public have also been participating in the Make a Difference Challenge on the website and have been submitting their “Do Good” initiative for consideration to receive up to S$5,000 funding to carry out the project. The closing deadline for this Challenge is 31 August 2013.

Starting September, Giving Store toolkits will also be given out to tertiary institutions. Educational institutions which wish to receive a Giving Store toolkit but have not been contacted are welcome to request for one via e-mail from Roshida Jamari at roshida.jamari@fairprice.com.sg.