Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong

The past year has seen waves of unprecedented challenges which Hong Kong people have had to face: the global coronavirus pandemic, massive economic transformation, social issues and many subsequent disruptions to work, health, and home life. Virtually no one in the city has been left untouched. Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong is grateful for the generous donations made by many companies during this difficult time. These have allowed us to continue to provide services to the underprivileged and help lift the spirits of everyone in Hong Kong.

To both recognise and motivate the many companies that have helped us, we recently hosted an online event – a joint Y-Care CSR and Sport-Friendly Awards Presentation Ceremony.

Now more than ever, we remain committed to assisting underprivileged groups throughout Hong Kong society. Our Y-Care CSR scheme was set up to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) – helping participating companies improve their CSR initiatives while assisting the Association with our mission at the same time. In light of the coronavirus outbreak, this year we shifted our annual Y-Care CSR Scheme Awards Ceremony online and combined it with our first Sport-Friendly Awards Presentation Ceremony.

This unique online event took the form of a live broadcast conducted on 23rd June at 3pm through our social media platform. Nearly 70 companies were honoured this year, including some 40 Y-Care CSR partners and more than 20 enterprises from the banking, insurance, finance, hotels, real estate, retail and catering sectors who took part in our Sport-Friendly Action Campaign.

Adjusting to the unprecedented situation brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, our Y-Care CSR partners went all out time after time to purchase preventative healthcare supplies and distribute them to the needy. At the ceremony, Mr Karl Lau, the General Secretary of Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong, said in his opening remarks, “We contacted different corporates and organisations in the early stages of the outbreak and invited them to donate funds or much-needed supplies to grassroots families. We received so many enthusiastic responses. In addition to the donations, many organisations deployed corporate volunteers to distribute the supplies or provide assistance via telephone. During these months, YMCA has raised over HK$1 million in form of donations or sponsorships on hygiene-related products and daily necessities. I would like to express my deep gratitude to all these corporates and organisations for their outstanding efforts.”

Later in the ceremony, Dr Bernard Chan, JP, Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bureau; and Dr Kevin Lau, JP, a member of the Social Welfare Department’s Steering Committee on the Promotion of Volunteer Service, were invited to share their views on the power and importance of CSR. Dr Kevin Lau told the audience, “The Social Welfare Department has always been committed to building a caring society. We actively encourage people from different backgrounds to participate in public welfare activities and volunteer services, to ensure that they adhere to the spirit of giving back to society – especially people from the business sector.” Dr Bernard Chan continued by saying, “The Y-Care CSR Scheme and Sport-Friendly Action programmes are highly meaningful. In addition to gathering the strength and resources to solve social problems and promote overall social value, they also bring a positivity to the entirety of Hong Kong society.”

A total of five Gold Partners were awarded this year, including Hang Seng Bank, AXA, the Sunshine REIT, the Leung Sheung Wing Chun Alumni Association, and Union Bancaire Privee Hong Kong (UBP). Two of the recipients shared their thoughts at the ceremony.

A representative from the AXA Foundation, which has been instrumental in helping promote the CYMCA’s drive to help walking football catch on in Hong Kong, remarked that, “We hope to bring the benefits of walking football to even more ‘golden age’ people in the future.” A representative from the Leung Sheung Wing Chun Alumni Association said that their association hopes to see more influential corporations join the Y-Care CSR Scheme, as this will allow society to experience continual improvements.

Another aim of the ceremony was for YMCA to motivate our CSR partners to support the “Realise Love, Realise Dreams” Foundation, set up to address the urgent needs of members of disadvantaged groups – not only food and clothing-related needs, but those needs involving spiritual prosperity as well.

Later this year, the Realise Love, Realise Dreams Foundation will be holding a large-scale fundraising event called “Dream Bidding”. Its purpose is to help bring the various dreams of underprivileged members of our community to life – such as playing football as a member of the “silver-haired generation”, organising a balloon twisting magic show for sick children, or providing different types of vocational training for youngsters. We are now inviting organisations across Hong Kong to provide support, make bids to sponsor this fundraising event, and deploy their corporate volunteers to help realise the dreams of the underprivileged.

To view the highlights of this year's Y-Care CSR and Sport-Friendly Awards Presentation Ceremony, please click here

We recently launched our new Global Y-Connect programme. Through diverse and interactive online communication platforms, the programme offers different types of exchange opportunities to young people who are willing but unable to participate in real-world overseas exchange activities due to the coronavirus pandemic.

So far, participating members have joined us from Singapore (the Metropolitan YMCA Singapore), Kosovo (the Kosovo YMCA) and Greece (the Thessaloniki YMCA). The online activities have included home-based exercises, English speaking practice and cultural exchanges involving topics like traditional culture and emotional health. Members who are interested in participating in further upcoming virtual Global Y-Connect activities, please contact us as soon as possible.

Enquiry: 2705 2732 David Quimbayo

Good news: Our “Be a Global Citizen” Campaign is about to turn ten years old! To celebrate the occasion, we will be holding our Be a Global Citizen Tenth Anniversary Photography Contest. The contest will have four themes: “peace”, “poverty”, “multiculturalism”, and “the environment and sustainable development”. Sign up quickly – you’ll be able to share your awesome photographs with the world and get the chance to win cash prizes!

Click here for details and to register.