Businesses have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the Circuit Breaker period here in Singapore. But some have managed to weather the storm, using other platforms as a means to promote their goods.
Carousell is one such avenue, helping to provide businesses with a platform that allows them to have engagement with customers during a time when they are severely limited with such opportunities.
And businesses themselves are also giving back.
Take Jane, for instance, the artist behind @pangopup.paints on Carousell. She takes up painting and drawing as a hobby, and wanted to free up space in her room to make staying at home more comfortable, and she has been using the platform to sell her paintings.
But the sale of her paintings serves an additional purpose other than freeing up space. After having experienced working with migrant workers, Jane wanted to provide more support to them, and thus decided to donate the proceeds of her sales to help fund causes for migrant workers.
Her products have now also extended to postcards as well, something that grew to be very popular during the #choosetogive campaign on Carousell; they too have their proceeds donated.
Three rounds of donations have since been made to Project Belanja, a cause that helps with providing nutritious meals for the migrant workers. Buyers are also assured that their contributions are going straight to causes like this through the receipts that Jane shares with them.
While Jane’s hobbies are helping our migrant workers, Lynne’s concern for the health of her loved ones has proved to be the catalyst that has led to enabling children to get access to education.
Lynne runs @botanicalsandbees, a business that deals in body care products and scented wares. Her journey started in trying to come up with a solution to avoiding toxins and unsafe chemicals. She would make her products after having done research on what ingredients were safe to use, gifting them to her family and friends.
Encouragement from friends to sell these products has then led to the business we see today, with an assortment of scented candles, oils and diffusers available on her Carousell page to purchase.
And these purchases are not only bringing joy to customers, but also to young children from the world over, with Lynne channelling 20% of the profits she makes into supporting several beneficiaries involved in providing them education — a decision she undertook after meeting the Founder of Empowering Lives Asia, a non-profit social group.
The effect of COVID-19 may have been detrimental to the country as a whole. Still, it is heartening to see that not only are Singaporeans proving their resourcefulness, but also showing their generosity in such a crisis.
Photos by Brandon Neo of the DANAMIC team. Additional visuals courtesy of Carousell.
