12 hours of skipping - so the poor need not skip meals

This post came out from The Straits Times (11 June 2015)

When customer service manager Madeleine Png smashed Singapore's skipping record, she had only one thing on her mind - "charity". The 37 year old skipped 57,957 times in 12 hours, far surpassing the 35,000 she needed to break the previous record at OneKM mall last month.

The CP Skips for Good Food campaign, run over two months by CP Foods and the South East Community Development Council, saw participants skip a total of 8,361,246 times - enough for the sponsor to donate 4,100 hampers to the district's needy.

The campaign involved 53 schools and organizations as well as the public in the May 23 finale. Every skipping-related post on Facebook and Instagram sites with the hashtag #CPSKIPS added to the skip count.

The total value of the hampers donated - containing frozen items including breaded fish and dumplings - was $123,000 and recipients spoke of their gratitude at Tembusu Seniors Activity Centre yesterday.


Thoughts:

1. There is this increasing trend, I noticed, to involve the public to do something and raise funds to support the needy families in Singapore.
2. I see two trends here, firstly which is about raising awareness of the need through such activities. I feel that some of these activities (especially more of sports-linked) tends to tie in with healthier life that Singaporeans are happy to do, and more importantly, usually cost little to nothing to contribute than some energy and time. The sponsors will come up with the fund at the end of the day.
3. Another trend I felt was that such activities, while good in nature, might also be an indirect form of positive advertisement for those sponsors for the events. While they are doing a good deed,  events like these are eye catching and raise the brand awareness. A win-win situation and good marketing technique.   
4. It would be good if such sponsorship can be long term in nature. More often than not they are once-off events and might not be sustainable for years. Beneficiaries who are genuinely in need would really appreciate continuous support as would form be a security for them. 

Thoughts anyone?

Yours,

Something Small Thinking Big