Since The MileLion began in 2015, I’ve had a little tradition of supporting a charity each year with a portion of the website’s earnings.
What’s been even more inspiring is the way the miles community has come out in support of these campaigns, collectively raising almost S$170,000 for various causes to date.
| Year | Beneficiary | Amount Raised |
| 2015-2017 | World Vision Singapore | S$5,000 |
| 2018 | World Vision Disaster Response | S$980 |
| 2019 | Methodist Welfare Services | S$11,703 |
| 2020 | New Hope Community Services | S$8,760 |
| 2020 | The Food Bank Singapore | S$5,128 |
| 2020 | The Salvation Army | S$18,755 |
| 2021 | Care Corner Singapore | S$21,835 |
| 2022 | New Hope Community Services | S$39,040 |
| 2023 | aLife Mother’s Assistance Fund | S$57,620 |
This year’s campaign is called Who’s Your Daddy, and aims to raise S$60,000 in support of the Centre for Fathering, a charity that seeks to strengthen families by promoting active fatherhood in Singapore.
Why support the Centre for Fathering?
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| Donate Here |
I became a father in 2023, and it’s been thrilling and terrifying in equal measure. Thrilling, because it there’s no feeling quite like seeing your child grow and learn. It transcends description- the excitement when they take their first steps, the amazement when they start feeding themselves, the joy when they call your name for the first time.
And terrifying, because it makes you keenly aware of how important the role of a father is. Dads are not “mums’ assistants”; they’re called to be equal parents in their own right. They’re tasked with leading the new family unit, with modelling Godly behaviour, to show care and patience while mentoring, disciplining, and teaching wisdom to their children. In quieter moments, it sometimes dawns on me the monumental burden of this task- I’ve been entrusted with being a father, are you kidding me?
Being a father has also helped me appreciate one important truth: mothers and fathers are not interchangeable. They each play unique, complementary roles in parenting, and if one half of that equation is missing, the already daunting task of raising a child becomes that much harder.
But even though we seem to agree with this in principle โ saying “fathers have an important role to play” comes off as a motherhood statement, pardon the pun โ the rhetoric often doesn’t match the record.
- In 2021, only 53% of eligible fathers took their full entitlement of paid paternity leave
- The Singapore Fatherhood Public Perception Survey by MCYS found that mothers were more engaged than fathers in day-to-day parenting, literacy-related, and school-related activities
- A Cultivate SG-commissioned poll from mid-2024 found that material and financial provision is the most common perceived role for fathers, while care-oriented roles dominate perceptions of mothersโ roles.
Being a provider is no doubt important, but kids need their fathers to be more than that. I’m all too aware that as the MileCub grows up, she’ll have to run an endless gamut of perils, whether it’s unbiblical ideologies, toxic social media, cyberbullying, nudify apps, AI boyfriends (seriously, why does all of life now feel like one giant Black Mirror episode?), and other man-made horrors that have yet to be invented. I don’t know what those will be, but what I do know is that having a strong father figure in her life will help her navigate those challenges, whatever form they may take.
That’s where the Centre for Fathering comes in. The name might not be immediately familiar, but you must have heard of their flagship programme, DADs for Life (they’re also behind MUMs for Life, incidentally!). This movement seeks to inspire and mobilise fathers to become good influences in their children’s lives by equipping them with the right skills and opportunities.
Each year, the Centre for Fathering engages over 300,000 families and equips more than 5,000 fathers and 2,500 mothers through its various initiatives.
Some of their key initiatives include Back to School with Dad, which encourages fathers to accompany their kids to school on the first two days of a new school year, and Eat With Your Family Day (EWYFD), which encourages employees to leave work early to enjoy a meal with their children and families (I remember this one with particular fondness, as my dad implemented it in his workplace back in the day). Celebrating Fathers, their signature event for the year, celebrates the role of fathers and raises awareness of the importance of active fatherhood.
The Centre for Fathering also runs a special outreach programme in conjunction with Singapore prisons to conduct fathering workshops and father-child bonding activities for incarcerated fathers, and is a recognised Ministry of Home Affairs Home Team partner.
Throughout the year, the Centre for Fathering runs programmes and workshops aimed at equipping fathers with the skills they need to raise their children and lead their families through various life stages
The funds from this fundraiser will go towards the following areas:
- Drive the nationwide DADs for Life and MUMs for Life movements
- Engage with corporates to adopt best practices to promote and equip their stakeholders to be great fathers
- Encourage active fathering through nationwide initiatives such as Eat With Your Family Day, Back to School With Dad, Celebrating Fathers, and Great Companies for Dads Awards
- Support father and mother groups in schools, communities, and organisations
- Expand outreach to new dads of newborns and dads in marginalised circumstances
How much are we seeking to raise?
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| Donate Here |
For The MileLion’s 2024 Christmas Fundraiser, we’ll be seeking to raise S$60,000 to support the work of the Centre for Fathering.
The Centre for Fathering is an approved IPC, and all donations of at least S$50 will qualify for 2.5X tax deduction.
The fundraiser runs from now till 31 December 2024. I’ve already got the ball rolling, and hope that you’ll join me!
To give you an idea of how far your money goes:
- S$30 equips a father with practical tips on shared parenting
- S$50 gives an imprisoned father a chance to reconnect with his child
- S$100 supports a couple in strengthening their marriage and welcoming their newborn
- S$500 supports one incarcerated father through the ICAN Change fathering programme
- S$1,000 supports the comprehensive reintegration of an ex-offender with his family
Which credit card should I use for donations?
There’s absolutely no shame in wanting to earn some credit card points from your donation. Charities pay a 1.8% fee to Giving.sg regardless of what mode of payment is used, so why not?
Unfortunately, AMEX nerfed points for charitable donations this year, except on the AMEX Centurion and Platinum Charge cards, so there’s not a lot of options left:
| Card | Earn Rate |
 Maybank Manchester United Card |
2 mpd + 3% cashback (on days where Man Utd win) |
| 0.4 mpd + 1% cashback (otherwise) |
|
 Maybank Visa Infinite |
1.2 mpd |
 AMEX Centurion |
0.98 mpd |
 AMEX Platinum Charge |
0.78 mpd |
 Maybank Horizon Visa Signature |
0.4 mpd |
Alternatively, you can use the following cashback options:
| Card | Earn Rate |
 AMEX True Cashback CardApply |
1.5% cashback |
Conclusion
Who’s Your Daddy is this year’s MileLion Christmas Fundraiser, supporting the work of the Centre for Fathering and DADs for Life.
I do hope you’ll join me to help fathers from all walks of life be all they can be, so many children may experience the blessing of an active father in their lives!
Not a chance in hell I would support this initiative or this charity, which advocates discrimination against LGBTQ people. Frankly, it says a lot about you as a person that you would support this “charity” out of all of those in Singapore who actually help under served and under represented people.
I continue to keep my adblocker enabled for this site.
Genuine question, if you disagree with the charity and site ownerโs personal beliefs, and do not want to support the site, would it not make more sense to visit another site, instead of continuing to regularly visit and read/benefit from the articles of an author you disagree with, while blocking ads?
Sadly, the site owner does provide useful information. I wish that I could encourage him to be more open-minded, but given that he’s a conservative Christian who supports anti-LGBTQ organizations, that’s difficult to do.
Oh Dear. Conservative Christian = closed mind, unable or unwilling to accept others point of view, and a lack of tolerance. You have zero chance to encourage anything.
By blocking ads, we effectively become an expense while we still get to draw on news that we would benefit from. That satisfies me that I have a net again and this dweeb has a net loss – petty thing to say but idgaf. His articles are extremely cringe with the out of date memes and references, but the facts still remain relevant. I personally prefer Andrew from MainlyMiles for Singapore mile-chasing related content (much better aesthetics and he keeps it civil – read: secular), and I regularly click on ads just to support him.
Bravo! Thanks for saying this ๐๐ป
Really shameful to support such a terrible organization.
๐
It is even more interesting when some research shows that the previous Speaker of Parliament was the patron for the Centre for Fathering. Not sure whether he turned the hearts of himself and his kids towards each other..
For me – I personally refuse to donate to any charity that has any involvement in supporting adults. This group of people above 18 years old are usually beyond hope. To avoid this sort of (moral) dilemma, I’d suggest focusing on the secular charities for children.
Agreed Spoon. These adults can fend for themselves why do they need to be spoonfed?
Great cause. Donated! Donโt let the haters deter you, everything is politicised and woke these days.
I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt since the choice to make support mainly faith-based organisation (6 out of 8 times now) was a personal one. Unfortunately, he has decided to politicise the annual fundraiser by choosing a charity founded and headed by someone actively working to limit progress for LGBTQ people.
Giving miles bloggers like Ben from One Mile At A Time credit for scoops is meaningless compared to supporting figures that would seek to negate his family life.
Heโs entitled to support causes close to him, as are you. Itโs a bit rich to condemn his choice while consuming his content.
Can you also share how he limits progress? Interested how far that goes
I’d like to use citi payall to donate. What are the details of the bank acct? Also, what information to key in under Renatks. Thanks
Donated! Support the cause as a Father as well. Ignore those typical people with identity issues, they still can’t make up their minds after consuming so much earth resources to grow up, what a waste.
Everybody is free to express their views, in a civil manner. There will always be differences in opinion and that’s okay. I’d say No to personal attacks on the site owner or negative remarks about religious organizations in multi religious Singapore. I note the founder of said charity did a lot of good work with Yellow Ribbon Project for ex-offenders back in the day.
Thanks for taking this risk. Iโm sure it wasnโt easy to put your career on the line for this. Itโs always terrifying to stand up for your beliefs, especially when theyโre so different from what the world believes is right. This wasnโt about the LGBT community or the organization behind the charity drive; it was about the beneficiaries of that drive. As a fellow Christian, Iโm inspired and encouraged by your words and actions. Thank you for fighting the good fight.
I’m not sure Aaron has any part of his career on the line for this. Let’s not exaggerate and make it sound like he’s carrying some cross for this. It’s Aaron’s pre-rogative to solicit/market donations to his preferred charity. I personally (as I mentioned in my earlier comment) feel that this charity espouses hypocrisy, but that’s another matter. Those who agree will donate, those who won’t will not. It’s that simple. No career is going to even get affected one bit over a donation drive.