When 19-year-old School of the Arts (SOTA) alumnus Russell Chong heard about the surge in COVID-19 cases among migrant workers here, he wanted to do something for them in his own way.
He came up with the idea of designing postcards and selling them online to raise funds for migrant workers. In early April, he posted an open call on Instagram to his old schoolmates for help, and 14 of them responded on the same day.
In two months, the group collected more than S$15,000.
Called Project Postcard, their initiative gives all of its sales proceeds directly to local migrant worker rights organisation Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME).
In May, Project Postcard distributed 10,000 postcards to the Woodlands and Cochrane Lodges so that workers could write home to family and friends. Project Postcard covers all mailing and postage costs.
Mr Chong said that the intent behind this was to lift the workers’ spirits by helping them to connect with their loved ones.
He noted that many Singaporeans have made philanthropic efforts to help migrant workers, but these tend to focus on providing for the workers’ physical needs. He felt it was also important to help the workers with their emotional needs.
Since it launched on 19 April, Project Postcard has sold around 15,000 of these postcards and they are now out of stock and no longer for sale.
The former schoolmates started selling their postcards using S$2,000 of Mr Chong’s personal savings for printing costs.
On 4 May, Project Postcard secured a grant from philanthropic organisation The Majurity Trust funding 80% of their initiative, up to S$5,000. Mr Chong plans to use some of this money to reimburse himself.
The group also received an 80% subsidy for postcard printing from KHL Printing.
Project Postcard is now in talks with other sponsors to provide postcards to more dormitories.
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Source: TODAYOnline, 1 June 2020