Twelve restaurants in Singapore come together to give S$5 to the underprivileged for every order of their signature dessert—making charity sweeter than before.
Contributed By Dawn Seow
S$5 goes to charity when you order a slice of Blueberry Carrot Cake at PS.Cafe. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE LO & BEHOLD GROUP.
Dessert-lovers have one more reason to indulge this October! With 12 restaurants putting out their signature desserts for a charity event, Sweet Charity, indulgence is made acceptable because every bite contributes to helping a needy child.
From now till Oct. 31, S$5 from every designated dessert ordered at participating restaurants will be donated to the National University Hospital Kids’ Heart Fund, a branch of the National University Hospital Patientcare Charity Fund, dedicated to providing medical support to children with congenital heart disease.
0.8 percent to 1 percent of babies born in Singapore are found with congenital heart disease. This means that the child is born with abnormal heart development which affects the structure and function of the heart. It refers to a large group of heart conditions with varying degrees of severity and in many cases repeated high-risk operations may be required to correct the defect. Families struggle with high cost of surgery, medical treatment and follow-up sessions, making it difficult for them to seek treatment for their children. The Kids’ Heart Fund thus aims to help as many children suffering from CHD as possible. Funds raised in the Sweet Charity Month will go to subsidizing the surgery costs for financially needy children with this condition.
The idea for Sweet Charity started with Dr. Terence Lim, a Consultant, Division of Paediatric Cardiology, University Children’s Medical Institute at the National University Hospital and his good friends who are partners of PS.Cafe and the Lo & Behold Group. Wanting to find a way to give back to the community and to help further the good work of the NUH Kids’ Heart Fund, the two restaurant groups joined forces to create what they hoped would be a popular and sustainable initiative that everyone would feel good about supporting.
Sweet Charity proved to be a project well received by other restaurants who wanted to render their support. The project naturally grew bigger when PS.Cafe succeeded in rallying additional restaurant partners and having the Lo & Behold Group market this worthy cause. With October being the month to celebrate Children’s Day, it was found to be the most ideal month to launch Sweet Charity.
Cakes, cocktails and ice-cream—go ahead and indulge for a good cause.
The strong passion of the participating restaurants is represented by the high quality desserts they are offering. Take for example, Epicurious’ red velvet chocolate cake, with rich creamy cheese, the Loof’s Gummiberry Cocktail, a gin-and-Cointreau tipple that comes with fresh forest berries and French meringue, or the Honey & Tea Parfait, a combination of Earl Grey cremeux, honey ice cream, house-made honeycomb, chocolate crisp from The Dining Room at Tanjong Beach Club, desserts out to reward those who do good. If you love a carrot cake, bring home a signature creation whole carrot cakes from PS.Cafe and 70 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the NUH Kids’ Heart Fund.
Those less keen on desserts can still play a part in this fundraiser. Make a reservation at any of the participating restaurants through www.chope.com.sg or order any desserts through www.chope.com.sg/sweetcharity for your loved ones and Chope will donate a dollar for each reservation or order.
Having launched Sweet Charity Month this year, the committee plans to make the event even bigger and better next year with more participating restaurants and more ways to donate to the cause. News of the next Sweet Charity month can be expected in early summer.
Besides The White Rabbit, Tanjong Beach Club, OverEasy and Loof from the Lo & Behold Group and PS.Cafe at various locations, well-known local restaurants like Cocotte, The Disgruntled Chef, Epicurious and Torte are also part of this sweet venture.
For more information about Sweet Charity Month and its partners, please visit www.sweetcharitymonth.com or www.facebook.com/sweetcharitymonth.
