RX-8 club starts the year with charity drive

These are not the best of times by anyone's standard. Everything seems to cost much more than we remember and reasoning with yourself thrice before making a purchase has become an irritating habit.

"Times are bad, but it's not as bad as some of us might think. We still have a warm bed to sleep in. We make enough to pay our bills and take a holiday at the end of the year," said Jasper Chong, a member of the RX-8 club. "But as we get caught up with our own lives, we fail to realise that there are those who can't even afford the simple pleasures."

It was upon this realisation late last year that the members of Singapore's Mazda RX-8 club decided to organise a charity drive, in an effort to bring some good cheer to the less fortunate. On top of attending to their full time jobs, members had the extra responsibility of planning out the events, making the necessary bookings and securing sponsors.

On choosing the charity, Jasper said "We got many positive responses from various charities. But we chose the Covenant Family Service Centre because in these times, apart from the working adults, the children are bearing the brunt too."

After grouping up and pasting sponsor decals on their cars, the 19 cars and their drivers made their way to the centre. The children were then taken to lunch at Cineleisure, followed by a screening of the comedy, Bed Time Stories.

Another member of the RX-8 club, Benny, said "Usually car clubs tend to do charity dinners to raise money, but we wanted to go in a different direction. Instead of just raising the money, we wanted to bring these children out and show them a great time."

Judging from the bountiful smiles and the infectious innocence of the children's laughter throughout the day, it was plain to see that all the late nights pulled to organise the drive were not in vain.

"The children loved it. They really enjoyed themselves today," said Ruth, a volunteer at the Centre who went along with the children. "This is the first time we've been approached for a charity event and we're deeply gratuitous to the RX-8 club. Their immaculate planning of the event has given the children something to remember for a long time to come."

The Covenant Family Service Centre is a joint project between Paya Lebar Methodist Church and the Methodist Welfare Services. Started in 1987, some of the services they offer include family counselling and financial support services. On top of that, they hold comprehensive educational talks and workshops for individuals and families to help them through the difficult periods of their lives.

The RX-8 club also managed to find two sponsors, Hankook Tyres and Fuji Motorsports, who each made a donation of S$500 to the centre.

In a statement issued by Hankook Tyres, "We would like to congratulate the members of the RX-8 club Singapore for volunteering their time, effort and donations in bringing the children for an eventful Saturday outing. In bad economic times like this, RX-8 club members have exuded qualities such as Hope, Care & Selflessness towards the children of Covenant Family Service Centre which is worthy of praise, Hankook applauds your good deeds!"

Fuji Motorsports' sentiments were similar. "We would like to thank the RX-8 club and Covenant Family Service Centre for planning this event. It was immensely satisfying to see the children enjoying themselves and having a good time. We look forward to the next charity drive!"

For more information about the Covenant Family Service Centre, visit www.covenantfsc.mws.org.sg .

The Mazda RX-8 club are a tightly-knit community of motoring enthusiasts. Learn more about them and all their planned activities at www.rx8clubsingapore.com.