Sands Cares Accelerator Members Make Significant Progress in 2023

Published by Las Vegas Sands on November 15, 2023

Through the third quarter of 2023, Sands Cares Accelerator members have made significant progress toward the goals they defined for their tenure in the exclusive membership program.

Inspired by Sands’ founder Sheldon G. Adelson and his legacy of creating successful businesses and giving back to communities through meaningful philanthropic involvement, the Sands Cares Accelerator empowers nonprofits to build their capacity in a strategic area or develop a new initiative to make greater impact in the community. Each Sands Cares Accelerator member has defined a three-year goal for the program, and they are making solid progress through the first three quarters of 2023.

Art Outreach Singapore’s Focus on the HEARTH Program

The most senior member of the Sands Cares Accelerator is Art Outreach Singapore, which aims to increase art appreciation and support for local artists in Singapore. Art Outreach is focusing its time in the Sands Cares Accelerator on growing its HEARTH program, which offers local artists exhibition space where they can share and develop work, while also providing professional development opportunities.

This year, Art Outreach has focused on building out the HEARTH space with new art installations, presenting showcases and hosting professional development events. In the third quarter of 2023, the nonprofit supported 14 practitioners in the sixth edition of HEARTH, dispersed $4,714 in micro-grant funding and organized three professional development workshops for 160 attendees. The workshops, which ran in July, featured local artists and art professionals who shared ways for artists to build their profiles and network, as well as insights on practical skills such as installation and exhibition lighting.

Looking ahead, Art Outreach is now running an open call and selection process for its seventh edition of HEARTH, which will showcase exhibitions from February to June 2024.

Green Future’s Focus on Recycling Services

Green Future Macau is a nongovernment organization founded in 2012 to provide education and awareness for improving commercial recycling rates in the region. The organization has focused its Sands Cares Accelerator work on launching Sap Fong, an environmental social enterprise that provides Macao businesses with waste sorting and recycling services.

In the third quarter of 2023, Green Future recycled nearly 70,000 kilograms of cardboard paper, an increase from the previous quarter. The organization also hosted two subsidized trainings in which participants were assigned to community recycling centers and exhibition venues to practice sorting and recycling. They also assisted local residents in recycling cardboard at retail stores. In addition, Green Future visited The Venetian Macao to gain insights into Sands China’s environmental initiatives, especially in recycling and food waste reduction.

One of Green Future’s most significant accomplishments this year was launching door-to-door recycling services for both household and commercial clients. To date, Green Future has 23 regular service subscribers. As the recycling market shifts, the organization is currently working to expand services to offer monthly recycling subscriptions and one-time recycling services to households, individuals and businesses.

Finally, Green Future has continued to provide support for frontline workers who recycle cardboard as their main source of income. The organization maintains consistent engagement with this community and offers a trolley exchange program that eliminates the need to queue and wait for cardboard unloading, a temporary collection point to store collected cardboard at night and opportunities for income diversification by sharing client referrals.

The LGBTQ+ Center of Southern Nevada’s Focus on Marketing

Sands Cares Accelerator’s newest member, The LGBTQ+ Center of Southern Nevada, kicked off its work in 2023 with a goal of building marketing and communications to better tell its story and sustain the organization for the future. Improving marketing efforts also serves as a foundation for the organization’s aim to cultivate new donors and drive increased contributions.

Since joining, The Center has developed a crisis communications plan and a messaging platform to better articulate the organization’s mission and services and highlight accomplishments during its 30th anniversary year. The nonprofit also trained its leadership team to communicate the new messaging approach effectively and consistently, and in the third quarter, used its Sands Cares Accelerator resources to produce and release two television and radio commercials, which will run in Nevada through September 2024.

Since the Sands Cares Accelerator’s inception in 2017 through the end of 2022, Sands has invested $1.4 million in member organizations, and Team Members have contributed 535 hours of skill-based consulting and mentoring to support achievement of their goals in the program.

To learn more about the Sands Cares Accelerator and its focus on building nonprofit capacity to advance their impact, read Sands’ latest environmental, social and governance report: https://www.sands.com/2022-environmental-social-and-governance-report/