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by Kenny Chee
VOLUNTEERS at a fundraising event for Singapore Red Cross over the weekend were pleasantly surprised to find that Singaporeans remained a charitable lot despite the downturn.
One of the 6,000 volunteers, 15-year-old Lim Zheng Yang from Hua Yi Secondary School, said: "I didn't expect people to give so much and even donate without asking."
His schoolmate, teenager Yeo Wei Lun, was just as surprised when he joined thousands of volunteers to sell flags and raise funds for the Red Cross.
Last Saturday's event was the first major fund-raiser for the Red Cross this year and it has set a target of $80,000.
A Red Cross spokesman said the organisation will look into cost-cutting measures and reach out to more individual donors, so that its programmes to help the disabled and the elderly are not disrupted.
Student Yeo said: "If we don't volunteer and do what we can, there will be fewer people who can help the Red Cross raise money."
Among other things, the proceeds will go towards subsidising Red Cross' costs in providing local non-emergency ambulance services, and care and therapy for the disabled.
kennyc@sph.com.sg
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