Local celebrities are stepping up in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which has shut many businesses and entertainment venues in Singapore.
Television presenter Diana Ser launched charity campaign ShowWeCareSG on 15 April to raise $250,000 in a month for The Invictus Fund, which supports about 80 social service agencies serving various vulnerable communities.
The campaign has since raised more than $265,000.
Ser and her husband, former actor James Lye, donated their $600 Solidarity payout to The Invictus Fund and, roping in a long-time friend in the communications industry, Ser quickly put together the campaign.
More than 80 of her celebrity friends have helped to promote the campaign on their social media pages, including local singers Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua and Kit Chan as well as celebrity couple Christopher Lee and Fann Wong.
Other stars have also stepped up for causes close to their hearts.
Theatre practitioners Pam Oei, Janice Koh and Petrina Kow, who founded Pasar Glamour, a charity sale of pre-loved goods in 2017, were planning to put the sale on hold this year.
But after the pandemic struck, they created Pasar Glamour Art Aid, putting in $25,000 from the funds raised last year and another $25,000 from an anonymous donor.
The trio hoped the public would donate generously to match the $50,000 dollar for dollar to create a $100,000 fund for struggling freelancers.
That amount has since been raised to $125,000.
Successful applicants to the fund – open to freelancers, from actors to backstage crew, who worked to put up a production for a paying audience in the last six months and can prove that they have lost income due to the pandemic – will each receive a one-time payout of $500.
Read more here.
Source: The Straits Times, 26 April 2020