Singapore – It has been almost three weeks since the first case of the Covid-19 was confirmed in Singapore. This is the same amount of time that frontline workers have been working tirelessly to combat the virus and keep everyone safe.
Many are extending efforts to show their appreciation and kindness to these heroes.
A new campaign was started on February 11, Tuesday, to provide health workers with something essential to keep them going – coffee.
The idea started with a group of friends who were able to raise over S$4,000 to treat healthcare workers to a cup of coffee from Starbucks or Coffee Bean.
“Over the past week, many healthcare workers have worked over 100 hours battling nCoV,” shared Ms Julie Chen, who organised the campaign. “Some cannot go home to their families after, have had their holidays cancelled, etc. And the work continues today,” she added.
Their initial gift of appreciation was able to buy the healthcare workers at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) with over 500 cups of coffee.
Ms Chen and her friends received heartwarming responses from the frontline workers.
Based on the outcome of their first initiative, Ms Chen and her friends decided to extend the opportunity to anyone willing to give doctors, nurses and other health professionals that much-needed coffee boost. Thus, “Operation #BoosterShot” was established via the Ray of Hope platform.
It takes only S$7 to buy a cup of coffee for a healthcare worker, noted the campaign. “So please donate generously!” they added.
People did donate generously.
In less than 24 hours since the campaign went live, they met the initial S$15,000 target.
The group increased the goal to S$25,000 and still exceeded that amount. “Wow. Singapore, you’re amazing – we just raised the target a couple of hours ago, and we’ve already hit it,” said the Operation #BoosterShot team.
While the campaign was supposed to end on February 13, the team closed it a day early due to overwhelming support. The campaign raised a total of S$25,486. “We’ll use all these funds to extend our reach to as many healthcare institutions and workers as we can – stay tuned for more detailed updates,” the team noted.
“Thank you, Singapore. Our national pastime may be complaining but we all chip in when the call is sounded! #sgkampung,” said Operation #BoosterShot. They also shared links on their page to other worthy initiatives in need of help.
For those wondering why Starbucks or Coffee Bean was chosen over cheaper alternatives, the team addressed those concerns as well:
