Volunteerism and Philanthropy have always been considered altruistic activities, intended to promote good or improve human quality of life, with the former done out of free will without motivation by financial or material gain.

The latter being the act of donating money to support a socially beneficial cause, with a defined objective and with no financial or material reward to the donor. Hence, be it in terms of being a volunteer or philanthropist, such attitudes and mentality form the basis of this stamp issue's theme "Spirit of Giving".

Showcasing the art pieces of children on what and how they feel about the "Spirit of Giving", capturing the innocence, pure and true qualities of a child, an art competition was organized in 2010 by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, and the winning entries as well as the artworks of the winners are featured in this set of stamps.

This stamp issue is released in conjunction with The 21st IAVE World Volunteer Conference that take place in Singapore on January 24-27, 2011 at the Sentosa Resorts World hotel. Hosted by Singapore's National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, the event will run in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) and International Association of Volunteer Efforts (IAVE)'s 40th anniversary.

Acknowledgements: Special thanks to National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre and Lasalle College of the Arts, for assistance rendered.