On 23 April 2016, the Disabled People’s Association (DPA) and Muscular Dystrophy Association Singapore (MDAS) jointly organised a Flag Day. Over 800 volunteers showed their support by coming out on a Saturday to collect donations at eight collection centres across Singapore. The event was a culmination of three months of hard work from both organisations and the outcome made all the effort worthwhile. DPA and MDAS recruited volunteers from secondary schools, junior colleges, tertiary institutions, voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), clan association and companies who joined other civic-minded members of the public to work together to raise funds for both organisations.
This year was the first time both organisations piloted a Flag Day software called Project Tintin. The software was designed and developed over a span of six months by Thoughtworks, DPA and MDAS with the sole aim of improving efficiency at reporting stations and reducing paperwork. Volunteers did not have to spend their valuable time waiting to register and filling in form. Instead, they registered and returned donation tins using QR codes generated by the system. The system also provided organisers with real-time updates of all Collection Centres and movement of donation tins. This pilot program was a huge success and the plan is to further improve the software and share the final product with all VWOs.
DPA and MDAS also continued to organise mobile Collection Centres. Five buses transported groups of people with and without disabilities to various locations in Singapore. This allowed Flag Sellers with disabilities to get around Singapore faster and sell flags in more areas. Again, this initiative was a success.
In addition, DPA and MDAS rolled out our Student Ambassador programme, which was piloted at our previous Flag Day. Through this programme, students were given the opportunity to learn valuable management skills with the mentorship and support of both organisations. Student Ambassadors were in charge of rallying and managing student volunteers in their schools and communities. DPA and MDAS plan to carry on with this initiative in future Flag Day projects.
DPA and MDAS volunteers, staff and board of members set up a Command Centre at Guangyang Primary School. We would like to thank the school for sharing their premises with us, and the staff who helped us with the money counting.
DPA and MDAS are pleased to announce that the joint street collections for DPA and MDAS’ Joint Flag Day 2016 was around $100,000, which will go a long way in supporting both organisations’ programmes. Both organisations would like to thank all the people who volunteered their time to help make the fundraising project such a success. DPA and MDAS would also like to extend our gratitude to all students who raised money for both organisations on the day and to all the schools involved.
DPA would like to thank the following companies for their support and donation of manpower, money, or both, in the preparation for and during the Flag Day itself:
- Chili’s
- Cognizant
- Comfort Delgro
- Deutsche Bank
- Flextronics
- Foodpanda
- Hua Yuan Association
- Jurong Point Management
- Lee Foundation
- Lee Kim Tah Foundation
- M1
- Shaw Foundation
- SPH Foundation
- Tong Teik Pte Ltd
Last but not least, DPA would like to thank MDAS for their collaborative effort and helping to the make this Flag Day such a success.
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