Adopt a $50 teddy bear this Christmas to support people in Singapore with special needs - The Straits Times

Donors who give $50 to ExtraOrdinary People will receive a complimentary teddy bear.

SINGAPORE – This Christmas, a $50 donation comes with a teddy bear that could help change someone’s future.

Local charity ExtraOrdinary People (EP) is bringing back its Bears for Good campaign for a second year. It aims to raise $750,000 for programmes that support people with special needs.

Every $50 donation comes with a bear, and the charity hopes to give out 15,000 of these.

The 2026 collection has five bears: Kimi, Qiqi, Buff, Ruff and Puff. With the tagline “Bear a Hope, Light a Heart”, EP is encouraging donors to give the bears as Christmas presents to loved ones, colleagues or anyone who could use some comfort.

“A bear is something people can hold, gift and remember. Through Bears for Good, we hope it also reminds people that those with special needs deserve the same opportunities to learn, grow and belong,” said Ivan Chin, chief executive of EP.

The campaign’s launch event takes place on Nov 7 at 1pm, at youth hub *Scape in Orchard Link. There, EP and *Scape plan to sign a memorandum of understanding to work together on diversity and inclusion activities.

The partnership will also start Club ExtraOrdinary@*Scape, where youth of different abilities can connect, co-create programmes and take on leadership roles. Its activities will extend to Youth Park and Skate Park nearby.

The bears are part of a campaign that aims to raise $750,000 for programmes for those with special needs.

The bears are available at Bears Central at *Scape, which opened on Nov 4 and runs until Dec 20, from 10am to 9pm daily.

Four SAFRA clubs are also taking part in the campaign: Jurong, Choa Chu Kang, Punggol and Mount Faber. There will also be pop-ups at shopping mall Velocity @ Novena Square from Nov 7 to 29 and at UOB Plaza on Dec 2.

EP was founded in 2017 and is a registered charity with Institution of a Public Character status. It runs arts, education and vocational programmes such as the ExtraOrdinary Music Company, Creative Lab and Junior Campus.

Donations will go towards these programmes. The charity says that support is especially important for young people with special needs once they leave school, when structured learning and pathways to work can become harder to access.

For more information, go to extraordinarypeople.sg