Eu Yan Sang Announces 130th Anniversary Charity Walk

Goal is to raise funds and awareness for Bethany Methodist Nursing Home, HighPoint Community Services Association and Life! Community Development

Singapore, October 22, 2009 – Eu Yan Sang today announced it is conducting a special Charity Walk on 1st November 2009 to celebrate its 130th anniversary in Singapore. This is part of a region-wide charity drive in line with the company’s vision of caring for mankind.

Mr Richard Eu, Group Chief Executive Officer of Eu Yan Sang said, “As Eu Yan Sang celebrates its 130th anniversary, we want to do something for the less fortunate in the communities we operate in. That’s why we are organising this Charity Walk in Singapore, to raise funds and awareness for three very deserving charitable organisations. These charities were selected because they each support a cause close to the heart of the company’s founder Eu Kong as well as Eu Tong Sen, the Eu who first expanded the company across the region.”

More than 400 people are expected to take part in the walk, including customers, staff, family, friends and business partners of Eu Yan Sang. The walk starts from Hong Lim Park to South Bridge Road, Smith Street, Trengganu Street, Pagoda Street, Eu Tong Sen Street, North Boat Quay, South Bridge Road then back to Hong Lim Park. This route is meaningful to Eu Yan Sang because of its rich heritage in the Chinatown areas.

The walk will start at 7.30 am after a 15 minute warm up. Twenty trishaws will ferry beneficiaries who are unable to walk independently but want to be part of the Charity Walk.

“We aim to raise funds and awareness for these charities from the charity walk. The funds raised by the walk will be combined with a donation of one percent of the sales proceeds of the Singapore Eu Yan Sang retail outlets in September and October this year. All expenses for organising the event will be borne by Eu Yan Sang,” Mr Eu said.

Eu Yan Sang has appealed to its business partners and VIP members to support the walk, and staff members have been given pledge cards to help raise funds. All funds raised will be shared equally among the three beneficiaries. Any donations above S$1,000 will receive a tax exempt receipt from one of the three chartities.

A cheque presentation will be done at the end of the event to the three charities.

The designated beneficiaries from the Charity Walk are:

• Bethany Methodist Nursing Home (Bethany) which looks after 293 old and sick patients who are either from low-income households or have been abandoned by their families and are in need of nursing care. Almost 90% of its residents are 60 years and above and about 60 percent require a high level of assistance for simple daily activitities like feeding and bathing. The Home provides a well rounded programme including dental care, physiotherapy, speech therapy, recreational and social activities.
• HighPoint Community Services Association (HighPoint) which helps rebuild the lives of people in need, especially ex-offenders and their families. It operates a halfway house program to rehabilitate criminal and drug offenders through spiritual guidance, therapy, life skills and job skills training to help them re-integrate into society. It runs a three-quarter house program where beneficiaries continue to stay even when they begin to work in society. It also runs social enterprise businesses such as movers, rag and bone and thrift shops to provide employment for ex-offenders; and
• Life! Community Development Ltd (Life! CD) which engages students and adults in volunteer activities to support communities in Singapore and across the region. Through its Peer Education and Training of Trainers programme, it helps communities to help themselves. Most recently it provided opportunities for Singaporeans to help affected communities in The Indian Ocean Tsunami and the disasters in Myanmar and Sichuan.

Interested donors can call 67498830 for more information if they wish to participate in the Charity Walk before 28 October.

Besides the Charity Walk the whole Eu Yan Sang Group is dedicating its 130th year to supporting charities around the region.

Said Mr Vincent Lim, Managing Director of Eu Yan Sang Singapore, “We have taken more than six months to put together the Charity Walk. But our efforts do not end with fund raising. Eu Yan Sang Singapore’s staff and management will also be volunteering their time to support these charities in other ways periodically. Today, the company has rallied some 60 staff to cook and serve a nutritious herbal dinner to the residents at Bethany.”

About Bethany Methodist Nursing Home

Opened on 22 September 2001, Bethany Methodist Nursing Home (Bethany) is a community outreach of Methodist Welfare Services, the social concerns arm of the Methodist Church in Singapore.

Licensed by Ministry of Health, Bethany is an oasis of love and care for up to 293 sick and frail patients. Priority is given to destitute persons, those from low-income families and those with families who are unable to take care of them at home.

Almost 90% of Bethany’s residents are 60 years and above. More than 65% require a very high level of assistance in basic daily activities like feeding, toileting, dressing or even turning in bed.

Bethany's mission is to provide care and comfort, peace and joy, and bring hope and love to the recuperating, rehabilitating and infirm. As such, Bethany provides a well-rounded programme, including dental care, physiotherapy, speech therapy, and various recreational and social activities. Residents are also entertained with Chinese drama serials screened weekly and movies screened twice a month.

The Home’s team of dedicated and professional caregivers provides all residents with the same high level of care, regardless of their socio-economic status, race or religion.

Apart from full-time staff, volunteers come in to help organise birthday celebrations, conduct sing-alongs, play bingo, exercise with the residents, provide pet therapy, help with personal grooming, also run cooking sessions and organise outings for residents.

Bethany welcomes volunteers in addition to encouraging residents’ family members to maintain contact and visit. Visiting hours are from 9am to 9pm daily.

Bethany’s projected expenditure for the Financial Year ending 31 March 2010 is $6.9 million.

About HighPoint Community Services Association (HighPoint)

Established since 1995, HighPoint is dedicated in rebuilding lives of people in need, especially ex-offenders and their families. It operates a residential halfway house program to rehabilitate criminal and drug offenders through spiritual formation, therapy, life skills and job skills training, to help them reintegrate into society. It also runs a three-quarter-way house program for the beneficiaries to continue to stay even when they start to work in the society.

HighPoint runs social enterprise businesses such as movers, rag and bone, and thrift shop businesses, to provide employment and train the ex-offenders in occupational skills. It also helps other needy people through various programs and initiatives. HighPoint DaySpring is one of the initiatives that help women in need. It plans to start a residential program for abused 13- 16year old girls in 2010.

Other volunteers programs include: prison in-care programs, caring for the elderly, giving tuition for needy children, providing migrant community care and helping to rebuild the lives of psychiatric patients.

About Life! Community Development Ltd (Life! CD)

Life! CD was formed in Singapore in 2004 for the purpose of engaging with students and adults in volunteer activities to help strengthen and sustain communities, both in Singapore and in neighbouring countries.

Life! CD has adopted a holistic approach, “body (physical), soul (emotional and social) and spirit (moral and spiritual)”. It is catalyst that partner local communities in assessing their needs, and through Peer Education and Training of Trainers, help communities help themselves. One of its early local initiatives was mentoring programs in local schools that included talks for parents.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami opened unlimited opportunities for Singaporeans to help affected communities recover. Life! CD brought many teams to Maldives and Aceh to assist with shelter, water supply, education and livelihood projects (farming and fishing, in particular). In 2008, Life! CD responded to disasters in Myanmar and Sichuan, with relief and livelihood projects and psychological recovery.

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