Handstands and cakes: Pangdemonium puts the ‘fun’ in fundraising

Singapore theatre company, Pangdemonium launched its first crowd-fundraiser, ‘Pangs-a-Lot! 2020’ earlier this month where its fundraising events are not quite what you would expect. Instead of organising one huge event, the theatre company is roping in a few of its advocates - consisting of family and friends from all walks of life, to come up with unique and interesting ideas to help raise funds this year.

“This way, we can really explore the fun things where the advocates can essentially do what they want. It can be a challenge, teach an online class or selling their side talents. We didn’t set restrictions or boundaries on what they can do as long as it adheres to the safe management guidelines,” shared Tracie Pang, co-artistic director of Pangdemonium.

At the moment, there are approximately 17 live campaigns on the official giving.sg website, with more launching progressively throughout the month. Some of the campaigns include the sale of cakes by CakesbyWei, auctioning of plants by Pat Law, and a mini nature tour of Coney Island by Rani Singam.

One of these out-of-the-mill campaigns is by actress Tan Kheng Hua who has pledged to do a one-minute headstand for every S$50 raised. “We approached Kheng Hua, and she was immediately on board with it! The headstand idea was totally hers; I wouldn’t ask her to do a headstand for an hour,” Pang laughed. The donation raised for Tan’s campaign has surpassed the targeted amount of S$3000.

In addition, Tracie, along with her husband and actor Adrian Pang, will be hosting an online quiz on two nights where people are encouraged to participate in groups or compete individually. Prizes will be given out to the winners in both categories.

“Adrian and I wanted to come up with an event that could involve a larger group of people. This quiz is similar to the pub quiz events in the UK. We wanted to do something like that where it can be competitive for the players but have fun at the same time. We don’t have a limit on the number of participants, but you’ll definitely have to be fast and accurate to score higher points.”

Another advocate supporting this fundraiser is Pasar Glamour. This not-for-profit social enterprise sells pre-loved designer clothing, bags, luxury brand shoes and accessories to raise funds for various organisations.

Founded by local actresses Janice Koh, Pam Oei and Petrina Kow, this year’s mini pop-up event will be held at Crane at 46 Kim Yan Road on the 8th of November from 12pm-5pm. All the money collected from the sale will go to Pangdemonium, and excess funds raised will be donated to charitable organisations supporting women, children and the arts.

After that, all the items not sold from the event will be listed on their first-ever Pasar Glamour webstore, launching on Singles day, 11th of November 2020.

“During this period, theatre companies, arts practitioners and many others have been badly affected by the pandemic. We try to do whatever we can to keep the arts and theatre going,” shared Kow.

She added: “We’ve known and have worked with Pangdemonium for many years and we believe in their stories and the work they do. We want to support them and do our part to help our arts scene.”

As Pasar Glamour is run by volunteers, Kow and her team source, collect, clean, bag and set up inventories all by themselves. “For the upcoming pop-up, we have about 200-300 pre-loved items on sale. We have a stringent quality check on the items. We look through each and every item donated to us to make sure they are in good condition.”

Head over to the Pasar Glamour’s Instagram for updates, as well as the giving.sg page for the various campaigns of Pangs-a-Lot! fundraiser.

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