Soon Su Lin (centre), CEO of Frasers Property Singapore, helps with food preparation at Willing Hearts' soup kitchen; Singapore-based employees at Red Cross Home for the Disabled (left) and at Frasers Tower's charity flea market (right), volunteering their time to do good for the community during Frasers Community Month.
Frasers Property commemorates Frasers Community Month every November, where employees rally together, giving time and resources to support causes and beneficiaries across our communities. We continue to step up efforts and strengthen partnerships throughout the year, creating more platforms for employees to do good for their community.
As a multinational real estate company, we are committed to making a positive impact in the communities where we operate, including Singapore. Frasers Community Month in Singapore saw 305 employee volunteers contributing almost 1,000 hours in support of half a dozen causes – and united under one Purpose.
Rallying community efforts
From left: Young girl donating non-perishable food items at The Food Bank Singapore donation boxes located at Northpoint City, and Singapore-based employees volunteering to refresh the homes of the elderly under Lions Befrienders.
We have since 2019 partnered The Food Bank Singapore to tackle food waste. As part of the partnership, dedicated Food Bank donation boxes are placed at our commercial and retail properties to collect donated non-perishable food items via the campaign Don’t let Good Food Go to Waste. Being frequented community nodes, our properties serve as convenient locations for members of the public to donate food.
All donations are redistributed to households in need, through organisations such as Family Service Centres, Soup Kitchens, and other voluntary welfare organisations. To date, more than 21,500kg of food have been collected from the public.
With Singapore's lowest decile (bottom 10%) monthly household income averaging at $1,800 (against the 2017 bottom-quintile average monthly household expenditure of $2,570), efforts towards reducing food waste and alleviating food insecurity have to be continuous.
In addition to tackling food waste in the island-nation, we also partnered Children’s Aid Society to raise funds for the children of Melrose Home, a residential home for vulnerable children and youths aged six to 21 who are experiencing adverse family circumstances or child protection issues. Fundraising efforts include hosting charity flea markets and garage sales at our commercial properties – platforms for office tenants to either donate or sell their pre-loved items, with proceeds given to charity.
Over 200 participants scaled 39 storeys to reach the Sky Garden at the top of Frasers Tower to support the children at Melrose Home.
We held a public vertical challenge at Frasers Tower, our Grade A office building in the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District. Participants ascended all its 39 floors, and with the support of Frasers Tower and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), helped raise over $4,000 for Children’s Aid Society. Through various activations, Singapore employees, along with partners and stakeholders, raised over $53,000 to-date for the children at Melrose Home.
On 30 October, we partnered the Public Hygiene Council (PHC) for its Quarterly SG Clean Day initiative. As part of the campaign, six of our malls ceased sweeping activities at selected areas within their premises from 6am to 10pm. More than 50 staff volunteers from the mall and corporate office then stepped forward to ensure smooth operations on that day. Tenants and shoppers also joined in the movement to keep Singapore clean, helping to foster a greater sense of community towards a cleaner environment and other civic-minded outcomes.
Encouraging volunteerism
While employees are given many opportunities to volunteer throughout the year, our community efforts usually intensify during Frasers Community Month.
From left: Low Chee Wah, CEO, Frasers Property Retail, and Jack Lam, Chief Operating Officer, Commercial, Frasers Property Singapore, distributing food bundles to beneficiaries under The Food Bank Singapore together with Singapore-based employees.
Building on our partnership with The Food Bank Singapore, 200 employee volunteers in Singapore helped to pack and distribute $25,000 worth of food bundles to 1,000 food-insecure households across the island from 28 November to 2 December 2022. Each bundle comprises 10 to 11 items curated based on the beneficiaries’ needs.
In early December 2022, 55 employees spent their morning volunteering at Willing Hearts’ soup kitchen. From preparing ingredients to packing the food, volunteers had a rewarding experience helping the soup kitchen prepare the 11,000 daily meals that would be distributed to over 70 locations in the country.
Singapore employees volunteered with other partner organisations for causes that include refreshing the public rental flat homes of the elderly under Lion Befrienders, as well as befriending residents at the Red Cross Home for the Disabled. Employee volunteers also participated in blood donation drives and the collection of water bottles and umbrellas for migrant workers in the city-state.
Frasers Property Group’s Purpose – Inspiring experiences, creating places for good. – underpins commitments that also include making a positive impact on the people and local communities where we work and live in. While we mobilise our employee volunteers towards diverse causes, we also involve our partners and members of public to join us in doing good for the community – a virtuous cycle we hope to continue building and from which we also create meaningful impact together.