EMBARGOED TILL 30 APRIL 2019, 1.15PM

3M Step-Up Challenge @ South East 2019 Launches for the Seventh Year with Record Number of Volunteers 3,000 underprivileged families to benefit from unprecedented multi-partner support

Singapore, 30 April 2019 – An unprecedented turnout of more than 1,200 participants gathered at the launch of the 3M Step-Up Challenge @ South East 2019. Preschoolers, millennials, working adults and elderlies alike were united in mind and body, to do their part for the community, along with Guest-of-Honour, Ms , Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, Mr , Vice-Chairman of South East Community Development Council (CDC), and Ms Yuko Nakahira, Managing Director, 3M .

About the event The theme for this year’s event is the “Spirit of Volunteerism”. It aims to bring the community closer through mutual benefit, for example, participants were able to exercise by way of engaging in a series of physical activities such as Zumba, piloxing and stairclimbing, while raising 3M safety and household products for those in need within the community.

Now in its 7th edition, the campaign to do good has been extended to three months, from 30 April to 31 July 2019. Within this period of time, members of the public are invited to join in or even organize their own 3M Step-Up Challenge event. For every 30 minutes of exercise clocked, 3M Singapore will donate one product to the beneficiaries. The goal this year is to accumulate 9,000 hours of volunteering through exercise, to benefit 3,000 elderlies and families in the South East district.

New showings Two new activities were introduced at the event launch this year. Kids’ Zumba and Piloxing debuted alongside traditional workouts such as stair-climbing and trampoline jumping, bringing the number of unique activity zones to seven in the 800 sqm event space at Wisma Serai.

Other participants from all walks of life and across a spectrum of age groups included:

• Team Strong Silvers: A quartet of fit senior men well-known for their calisthenics exercise.

• Standard Chartered Bank: Representing the working adults, Standard Chartered is a long-time partner and supporter of the 3M Step-Up Challenge for 3 years.

• PCF Sparkletots: The preschoolers from PCF were some of the youngest participants at the launch. Kids Zumba was added to this year’s activity line-up in acknowledgement of the fact that age is no deterrent in doing good for the community.

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Dr Maliki Osman, Mayor of South East District, commended the new activities, “I have always been very encouraged to see the vast diversity of participants taking part in the 3M Step-Up Challenge @ South East – from young to old, students and retirees to community and corporate partners. I am especially thrilled to see one of the new activities being Kids’ Zumba. At South East CDC, we have always believed that volunteering and doing good should be inculcated from young, and this is a very good platform for them to start doing so. I strongly encourage, as well as believe, that more parents and schools will be keen to bring their children and students to join us.”

Ms Yuko Nakahira, Managing Director of 3M Singapore, explained: “This is exactly what we strive to do at 3M; to use science to improve lives and help solve some of society’s challenges. At 3M, we are committed to address large-scale problems such as improving air quality and enabling the future of transport, to multi-partner collaborations such as this, and to deploy our products to make life easier and better for our beneficiaries. Together, we believe that we can build a more sustainable, safer and healthier world for everyone.”

Volunteer to deliver the goods All beneficiaries of the 3M Step-Up Challenge will receive a 3M safety and household pack that includes six practical items worth $42:

1. Scotch-Brite® Heavy Duty Scrub Sponge 2. Scotch-Brite™ General Purpose Cloth 3. Scotch-Brite® Non-Scratch Sponge 4. Nexcare™ Waterproof Bandages 5. 3M™ Safety-Walk™ Anti-Slip Floor Stickers 6. Command™ Medium Hooks

For the third year running, 3M Singapore is partnering with NTUC FairPrice to organise roadshows at selected outlets to encourage shoppers to exercise and contribute, while doing their groceries. This will take place over weekends in the month of July 2019.

In partnership with the South-East CDC, public roadshows will also be conducted to provide more opportunities for the public to join in the campaign.

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Location Date/Time 7 June Paya Lebar Square 6 pm – 9 pm 1 - 2 July SingPost Centre 11 am – 9 pm

Details of the retail roadshows will be updated shortly on the campaign website at http://go.3m.com/3mstepup.

Want to pledge and conduct your own roadshow?

Members of the public can hold their own 3M Step-Up roadshows in groups of a minimum of five people. Participants who are keen to organise their own roadshows and contribute to the 9,000 hours can follow the steps below:

1. Pledge the target collective number of minutes and number of participants at https://engage.3m.com/StepUp2019Register 2. Conduct the roadshow/group exercises for this campaign. Organizers are required to record the final number of participants and total exercise in minutes, and take a group photo. 3. Submit the results and event photos at https://engage.3m.com/StepUp2019Result

Interested participants or groups may visit http://go.3m.com/3mstepup for more information or email [email protected].

3M, Safety-Walk™, Nexcare™, Scotch-Brite® and Command™ are trademarks of 3M.

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About 3M Singapore 3M has been improving lives in Singapore for more than 50 years. Since its founding in 1966, 3M Singapore has grown from its humble beginnings with only 8 employees, to a company with more than 1,600 employees and established local capabilities to serve the needs of local, regional and global customers. 3M’s presence in Singapore includes two manufacturing plants at Woodlands and Tuas, an R&D Center at Woodlands, and a Customer Technical Center, supply chain and business operations based at Ang Mo Kio. For more information on 3M, please visit www.3M.com.sg.

About South East Community Development Council

South East CDC was set up on 24 November 2001. It oversees the Marine Parade Group Representative Constituency (GRC), East Coast GRC, Fengshan Single Member Constituency (SMC), Mountbatten SMC and MacPherson SMC, and serves a population of about half a million residents. At the helm of South East CDC is Mayor Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, who steers efforts in achieving the three strategic thrusts that guide the work of the CDCs. Termed the “ABCs of Community Bonding‟ — Assisting the Needy, Bonding the People and Connecting the Community — South East CDC initiates and manages programmes in collaboration with both community and corporate partners along these three strategic thrusts, so as to nurture a vibrant and self-reliant community.

More information on South East CDC at www.cdc.org.sg/southeast or be our Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/secdc.

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About 3M At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives daily. With $33 billion in sales, our 93,000 employees connect with customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M or @3MNews.

For media enquiries and images, please contact:

Huntington Communications Christina Lim Email: [email protected] Tel: 63392883 / 88680806

3M Singapore Jerilee Aw Southeast Asia Brand & Communications Manager Email: [email protected] Tel: 6450 8844 / 9797 0771

South East CDC Claire Koh / Raine Ong Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Tel: 9695 7630 / 9623 0824

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