So far S$250,000 has been raised mainly through pledge card and corporate donations, with donations still pouring in. The public can continue to donate to the President’s Challenge till 17 July 2005 (Please see below for more details).
Health Relay 100
The Relay began just after midnight on 10 July at the National University of Singapore (Kent Ridge) and the College of Medicine Building (Outram) simultaneously, and ended at the National Dental Centre where participants of the final leg walk-a-jog were met by Guest of Honour President S R Nathan close to 8.30am that morning.
Leading the walk-a-jog were Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health; Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports; senior management of SingHealth and its institutions, and other healthcare leaders. The walk-a-jog participants set off at about 8.00am from the open field at the junction of Havelock Road and Clemenceau Avenue.
Last year, the first President’s Challenge Health Relay covered an 80km run route. To go the extra mile this year, participants covered a 100km route over about eight hours, starting from the wee hours of Sunday morning, 10 July 2005. The number ‘100’ is also significant in commemoration of the centennial of medical education in Singapore.
This is the second consecutive year that SingHealth and its partners are taking part in the President’s Challenge Health Relay, demonstrating the solidarity of the healthcare community by banding together to extend their care and compassion for the less privileged in society. Said Prof Tan Ser Kiat, SingHealth’s Group Chief Executive Officer, "SingHealth is pleased to once again be part of the President’s Challenge through this year’s Health Relay 100 in aid of 47 charitable organisations. In working towards this common meaningful goal, I am heartened to have the teamwork and support of SingHealth’s 13,000 staff, as well as external organisations, including healthcare partners. This event is part of our rich heritage in community outreach endeavours and our efforts to promote healthy living."
At the event, President Nathan also viewed a collage of footprints at the finishing point. The footprints held well-wishes to the survivors from members of the public who made minimum donations of $10 each as part of a fringe fund-raising activity called the "Adopt-a-Step" campaign.
Outright Donations to President’s Challenge:
All cheques are to be made payable to "President’s Challenge 2005" c/o Healthy Relay 100, Singapore Health Services Pte Ltd, 11 Third Hospital Ave, #07-00 SNEC Building, Singapore 168751. All donations are entitled to tax deductions double the amount donated. Donors should include personal particulars (Name + IC Number + Address) for auto-inclusion for tax deduction, thus tax receipts for donations via e-donation and telepoll will not be issued.
More about President’s Challenge Health Relay 100
Apart from patients and survivors of serious illnesses, the 2,000 participants from 24 organisations consisted of healthcare professionals like nurses, doctors and allied healthcare professionals from SingHealth and other public and private organisations. SingHealth’s partners like Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel, healthcare authorities like the Ministry of Health, Health Promotion Board and Health Sciences Authority, the SAF Medical Corps, the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore, National University of Singapore, and Thomson Medical Centre also joined the Relay.
The President’s Challenge Health Relay 100 organising committee is headed by Dr See Hung Foo, Senior Consultant, Orthopaedic Surgery and Deputy Chairman, Medical Board of CGH. Funds for the President’s Challenge Health Relay 100 were raised through the following activities:
Pledge card donation drive involving all 13,000 SingHealth staff, as well as organisations like Alexandra Hospital, National University Hospital, National Skin Centre, Ministry of Health, Health Promotion Board and St Andrew’s Community Hospital.
A public fund-raising event, "Adopt a Step", at SingHealth's 3 hospitals, 5 National Centres and 9 SingHealth Polyclinics from 15 to 17 June 2005. This unique initiative called for the public to support disease survivors who wished to participate in the "Walk-A-Jog with Survivors" on 10 July. Members of the public could do so by "adopting a step" through minimum cash donations of $10 each. These donors were each given a "footprint" to pen their well-wishes. All the footprints were part of a larger collage displayed at the finishing location on 10 July.
Direct monetary contributions from corporate organisations and individual donors