$7 million channelled to Home Help Service through SP Heartware Fund

As if being encumbered with the triple chronic dread disease of hypertension, hypolipidemia (high cholesterol) and diabetes is not enough, Madam Chin Fee Fee also suffers from spinal stenosis – a narrowing of the open spaces within her spine, which renders her almost immobile. Yet the 78-year-old, who lives alone, remains upbeat, thanks to a group of volunteers who deliver hot meals to her home everyday and ferry her to and from her home to her medical appointments.

Madam Chin is a beneficiary of Dorcas Home Care Service - supported by the Singapore Power (SP) Heartware Fund. The Fund is dedicated to supporting Community Chest’s Home Help Service programmes, which help the needy elderly in our community age with hope and dignity by delivering critical care services to them in their homes.

The SP Heartware Fund received a boost when Singapore Power, together with its business associates, raised more than $363,800 in support of the Singapore Power Charity Golf 2013 which will be held at the Singapore Island Country Club on Friday, 30 August 2013.

The SP Charity Golf is Singapore Power’s key community outreach event for the year. All donations from the event are channelled to the SP Heartware Fund. Since the launch of the SP Heartware Fund in October 2005, Singapore Power has raised more than $7 million for Community Chest in support of seven Home Help Service programmes.

Needy seniors who live alone and are unable to cater to their basic needs are the main beneficiaries of the programme which include daily meal deliveries, assistance with personal hygiene and laundry, and transport to medical appointments.

The needy elderly remain the focus of Singapore Power’s community outreach endeavours in view of Singapore’s ageing demography. By 2030, it is projected that there will be 117,000 seniors who are semi-ambulant or non-ambulant, i.e. more than 2.5 times that of today¹.

A culture of giving and sharing is taking root at Singapore Power. Beyond collaborating with its partners to raise funds through events like the Charity Golf, Singapore Power also encourages its staff to do their part in reaching out to the community through various community outreach initiatives.

One of these is the recently launched Nature Cares programme where Singapore Power staff took time off from work and spent quality time bonding with the residents of St John’s Home for Elderly Persons and students of Cedar Primary School, over nature-related activities such as making bottled gardens and visits to parks. These activities give much boost to the morale and emotional well-being of the elderly beneficiaries.

Staff have also been involved in other charitable initiatives such as the JP Morgan Run, in aid of Operation Smile, which provides free surgeries to repair facial deformities for children around the globe.

Said Mr Wong Kim Yin, Group Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Power: "The needy elderly have made valuable contributions to society. It is extremely heartening when we at Singapore Power and our business partners are united in the cause of giving our pioneer generation a lift for their basic daily activities, to provide medical assistance and to support their desire to live independently and with dignity."
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¹COS speech by Minister Gan Kim Yong on Ministerial Committee on Ageing Initiatives (7 Mar 12)

About the SP Heartware Fund

The SP Heartware Fund was launched in October 2005 to help the needy elderly in the community lead better lives. The Fund supports the operations of seven Home Help Service programmes. These programmes, operated by voluntary welfare organisations, are:

• Dorcas Home Care Service run by Presbyterian Community Services
• THK Home Help Service East and THK Home Help Service West run by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities Limited
• Sunlove Home Help Service run by Sunlove Abode for Intellectually-Infirmed Limited
• SWAMI Home Help Service run by Sunshine Welfare Action Mission
• Tembusu Home Help Service run by Sathya Sai Social Service (Singapore)
• TOUCH Home Care run by TOUCH Community Services Limited

Singapore Power underwrites all fund-raising costs for the SP Heartware Fund. Every dollar raised for the Fund goes to the seven Home Help Service programmes administered by the Community Chest.

The Fund has also sponsored the purchase of vans and ambulances for the Home Help Service providers.

About Singapore Power
Singapore Power Group (SP) is a leading energy utility group in the Asia Pacific. It owns and operates electricity and gas transmission and distribution businesses in Singapore and Australia.

Over a million industrial, commercial and residential customers in Singapore benefit from SP’s world-class transmission, distribution and market support services. The networks in Singapore are amongst the most reliable and cost-effective worldwide.

About Community Chest
Community Chest raises funds on a yearly basis to meet the needs of the social service programmes we help support. Community Chest ensures that the fund-raising and other operating costs are kept to a minimum. As these costs are covered mainly by Tote Board and Singapore Pools (Private) Limited, every dollar raised by Community Chest will be made available to social service programmes under its care. Visit comchest.sg for more information.

Issued by: Singapore Power Ltd
                 10 Pasir Panjang Road #03-01
                 Mapletree Business City Singapore 117438
                 Co. Reg No : 199406577N
                 www.singaporepower.com.sg

Divorced with one son who has lost contact with her for the past six years, Madam Chin lives alone in a two-room rental flat in Commonwealth Crescent. Madam Chin suffers from hypertension, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and diabetes. She also has spinal stenosis – a narrowing of the open spaces within her spine, which puts pressure on her spinal cord and the nerves that travel through the spine. The condition causes her constant pain, numbness and muscle weakness.

Her condition renders her home-bound most of the time, moving around her flat very slowly with the help of a walking aide. On the rare occasion when her health permits, she would travel on a wheelchair around her neighbourhood.

Dorcas Home Care Service – supported by the SP Heartware Fund - has been providing Madam Chin with much needed assistance. Staff from Dorcas Home deliver hot meals to Madam Chin every day, and also provide transportation and escort her for medical appointments at the nearby Queenstown policlinic. In addition, staff and volunteers who help with the meal delivery make it a point to observe how Madam Chin is coping with the business of daily living and intervene where necessary. When Madam Chin’s mobility becomes increasingly laboured, volunteers would promptly inform staff of Dorcas Home who will then expedite a visit to the polyclinic.

Said Madam Chin: “I am grateful for the kindness of volunteers who have helped me so much in my time of need.”