SINGAPORE - Property group Ho Bee Land has set up a $1.3 million Covid-19 support fund to plug funding gaps at smaller charities and social enterprises.

It said on Wednesday (May 20) that it has been reaching out to these organisations in the past two weeks so that their needs can be best met by the fund, which will be channelled by Ho Bee Land's philanthropic arm, Ho Bee Foundation.

The $1.3 million comes from $1 million contributed by Ho Bee Land, as well as $300,000 from its board of directors and senior management.

"The Covid-19 support fund of $1.3 million is intended to help bridge and support (the smaller charities' and social enterprises') funding requirements to enable them to carry on their good works during this unprecedented crisis," Ho Bee Land said.

Headquartered in Singapore, the group has property investments and developments in, among other areas, Australia, China, Britain and Singapore. Its portfolio of investment properties includes The Metropolis in one-north.

Other organisations have similarly set up funds to ease the fallout from what could be the worst economic crisis to hit Singapore in almost two decades.

Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm of Singapore investment firm Temasek, has launched a $10 million fund to support ground-up initiatives that address community needs worsened by Covid-19.

DBS is also giving $2.5 million to help feed vulnerable groups in Singapore.

German pharmaceutical group Boehringer Ingelheim has donated $500,000 to five causes that its employees voted for, namely the Migrant Workers' Assistance Fund, the Sayang Sayang Fund, the Invictus Fund, the Singapore Red Cross and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.