Making A Difference - A School For The Children building schools, rebuilding lives

The devastating earthquake which hit Sichuan on 12 May 2008, destroyed families, homes and buildings. School buildings were not spared and the children of Sichuan and its neighbouring provinces are now left without educational facilities and regular schooling.

As they take small steps towards picking up the pieces and rebuilding their lives, MediaCorp and World Vision Singapore are helping the young survivors by raising funds to build a school.

"Making a Difference - A School For The Children" is an initiative by MediaCorp PTE LTD, in support of World Vision International (Singapore), to fund a school in Shaanxi – one of the heavily affected areas during the Sichuan-Wenchuan earthquake. From 4 August to 14 September, all of MediaCorp’s radio stations will actively appeal for donations. All proceeds collected will be channeled to World Vision Singapore to build a school in Shaanxi for the children to continue in their learning journey.

Together, MediaCorp and World Vision Singapore hope to raise a total of $250,000 to cover all the expenses needed to construct a school of 1,260 square metres to house 300 students. The school will be located at Shaanxi Province, Bao Ji City, Feng County.

Said Mr James Quek, Executive Director, World Vision International (Singapore), “This partnership with MediaCorp’s radio stations to help the survivors of the earthquake cannot be more timely. This strong support will certainly help World Vision raise the estimated USD 4.1 million for the quake disaster in Shaanxi and Gansu. As a child-focused and community-based humanitarian agency, World Vision aims to restore 13 schools in Hanzhong and Baoji so that some 7,000 children can continue with their education as well as reconstruct homes for 1,000 households in the two provinces.”

Mr Philip Koh, Managing Director of Radio, MediaCorp Pte Ltd said, “One of the main challenges in the aftermath of disasters is to restore normalcy to the lives of the children. In this respect, we wanted to zero in to help the children who are struggling to cope with their losses. Getting them back to school so that they can get back to studying and playing with their friends is but one small step in helping to rebuild their lives. Whilst much has already been done, we believe that Singapore can still play a significant part for the rehabilitation and reconstruction phases. And has been seen in our past fundraising projects, our generous listeners will no doubt rise to the occasion.”

The public can make donations^# in the following ways:

1) From 4 Aug – 14 Sep, cheque donations can be sent to:

Thomson Road
PO Box 023
Singapore 915701

Cheques should be made payable to “MEDIACORP PTE LTD”.

2) From 4 Aug – 14 Sep, the public can call the hotline 6222-1212 for air-conditioning servicing provided by Gain City*. All fees will be donated to World Vision.

*Terms and conditions apply. For more information, please tune in to MediaCorp’s radio stations

3) From 15 Aug – 14 Sep, the public can purchase an exclusive CD single which includes the song titled ‘A Better World’, specially performed by HIM International’s artistes including popular girl group S.H.E, boy band Fahrenheit, TANK, Dong Li Huo Che, Yoga Lin, Jade Liu and others. Each single is sold at $5 at all Gain City outlets, with all proceeds going to World Vision.

4) The public may make cash donations at all Gain City outlets.

^#All donations are non-tax exempt

Please visit www.worldvision.org.sg for more information on World Vision's relief efforts in Sichuan, China.

For more information on Making A Difference – A School For The Children, please tune in to MediaCorp’s radio stations, or visit http://www.mediacorpradio.sg/charity2008/