• Minister of State Lee Yi Shyan and Mr Seah Kian Peng, CEO of FairPrice, joins 700 participants in a three-legged walk to launch FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East 2011 campaign
• Campaign aims to raise half a million bowls of rice for 7,000 needy families
• Public urged to participate in the campaign to help the less fortunate meet their daily needs

NTUC FairPrice (FairPrice) and South East Community Development (CDC) came together today to launch the NTUC FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East 2011 charity campaign with the objective to raise at least half a million bowls of rice for 7,000 needy families residing in the South East District. For every 100 metres of walking completed, FairPrice will donate one bowl of rice to the needy. The Walk for Rice @ South East campaign is based on the South East CDC’s signature 5E Approach to Community Volunteerism.

Guest-of-honour, Grassroots Adviser Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for National Development and Trade & Industry and Member of Parliament (MP) for East Coast GRC, together with FairPrice CEO, Mr Seah Kian Peng, raised the first eight bowls of rice, by completing a three-legged walk round Bedok Stadium.

Over 700 participants from South East CDC, FairPrice, students from Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Business Management, staff and families from Alcatel-Lucent, young athletes from Geylang United Football Club, and Team South East brisk walkers, joined in the three-legged walk for rice for needy families. At the end of the event, an estimated 2,800 bowls of rice were raised.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, CEO (Singapore) of NTUC FairPrice, said, “The community has been very supportive of this campaign over the years and we are proud to partner South East CDC in continuing with this initiative. We will bring together our staff, our customers, and our business partners as one united community to help provide rice to needy families.”

Mr Stanley Fong, General Manager of South East CDC said, “Walk For Rice @ South East has grown into a movement of community engagement and contribution. Across all ages, all races, all estates, it is an activity that everyone can take part in to assist the needy. It is a signature programme that shows that the South East District Cares. We are delighted to work with NTUC FairPrice to create this platform that allows various partners, from grassroots, schools, voluntary welfare organisations and corporations, to come on board to support this in their own creative ways.”

How to Participate in FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East 2011

FairPrice customers and the public can participate in Walk for Rice for the needy through the following:

• Walk for Rice at selected FairPrice supermarkets on 8 and 15 October, 2pm to 6pm – Bedok North, Joo Chiat Complex, FairPrice Finest at Marine Parade and FairPrice Xtra at nex Mall.
• Purchase participating products at all FairPrice stores (FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets) between 6 to 19 October (for the list of participating products, customers can refer to print ads and in-store ads for more details)

One million bowls of rice donated since 2009

This is the third year that FairPrice has supported this initiative by partnering its business partners and South East CDC to rally the community to reach out to help needy families. To date, FairPrice has donated one million bowls of rice to this initiative, which benefitted over 7,000 needy families each year in the South East district. FairPrice is committed to supporting this initiative for the next two years as well.

The 7,000 beneficiaries of this charity campaign consist of financially-assisted families residing in the South East District. These families are identified by grassroots organisations. The rice will be distributed to the families over a period of five months.

Last year, some 16,000 people from all walk-of-life participated in this month-long campaign through various walking activities to do their part for the less fortunate enabling the campaign to reach its target of half-a-million bowls of rice that was donated to the needy as well.

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About South East CDC 

South East CDC was set up on 24 November 2001. It oversees the Marine Parade Group Representative Constituency (GRC), East Coast GRC, Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency (SMC), MacPherson SMC and Potong Pasir SMC, and serves a population of about half a million residents. At the helm of South East CDC is Mayor Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, who steers efforts in achieving the three strategic thrusts that guide the work of the CDCs. Termed the ‘ABCs of Community Bonding’ – Assisting the Needy, Bonding the People and Connecting the Community – South East CDC initiates and manages programmes in collaboration with both community and corporate partners along these three strategic thrusts, so as to nurture a vibrant and self-reliant community.

For more information on South East CDC, visit www.southeastcdc.org.sg or be our Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/secdc