By garnering $10.895 million in donations this year, the NTUC-U Care Fund will continue to assist low-income union members and families through its various assistance programmes.
The Labour Movement revealed the amount at its annual NTUC U Care Charity Dinner on 4 October 2017, where NTUC Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing hosted some 850 guests, comprising union leaders, management partners, U Care beneficiaries and corporate donors.
A total of 168 donors contributed to the NTUC-U Care Fund this year. All 60 NTUC-affiliated unions and associations supported the fund to the tune of $429,933.
“It is indeed very heart-warming to see so many donors open up their hearts to support the worthy cause of helping our low-income union members and their families year after year. It is with their strong support that we have been able to touch many lives, and we certainly hope to continue doing so for many more years to come,” said NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Zainal Sapari, who is also director of NTUC’s Care and Share Department.
Since its inception in 2009, the NTUC-U Care Fund has raised $109.66 million.
Assistance Programmes
This year, the fund has set aside $2.675 million and $3.8 million for the NTUC U Stretch vouchers and U Care Back To School (BTS) vouchers respectively. The U Stretch vouchers will help some 31,500 low-income union members defray their daily living expenses, while the U Care BTS vouchers can benefit 30,400 union members’ school-going children.
“As a single mother with three young children aged 9, 7 and 4, I am very thankful for the assistance provided by the NTUC-U Care Fund. My youngest daughter has been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and requires long-term medication. Without the U Stretch vouchers to buy groceries and Back To School vouchers to purchase stationery and assessment books for my children, I would have to fork out even more of my own money,” said patient assistant Salina Masri Khan, 33, who has been a beneficiary of the fund since 2015.
Other assistance programmes include the U Care Education Co-Funding Scheme and the U Care CaringSharingReaching out (CSR) Grant.
Support for Elderly, Preschoolers
The event also saw $750,000 presented to the Bright Horizons Fund to support the educational needs of preschool children, an increase from the $520,000 in 2016.
Another $1 million was set aside for the Eldercare Trust to help the elderly from low- to middle-income families offset the cost of senior care services.
