His mission, which he chose to accept …
Hong Kong-born Peter Bennett asked himself some searching questions a few years back, and has chosen to start giving money away rather than adding to and counting his piles. Recently, he started Mission Possible to tackle poverty in Hong Kong, soon finding support from the rugby union which generously donated a box at the Sevens to help support the cause. "Then the Holiday Inn donated the food, Links Concepts donated the wine, and we were on the way to creating something new and incredible," he says.
The idea was to find 76 people willing to part with HK$12,000 each to join in a box on the first floor of the east side of the stadium. A daunting task, but Bennett notes that "although this is our first year, the interest in these tickets for a charity box was overwhelming".
Every cent of the money donated will go directly to support four Hong Kong-based charities: Po Leung Kuk Children's Development Fund, Food Link, the Community Chest Rainbow Fund, and the Lighthouse Benevolent Fund.
Visitors to the box today will include finance secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, and champion jockey Douglas Whyte. Various rugby legends, including Waisale Serevi and Ben Gollings, are also expected to be box-hopping.
Not content with filling up his box with an opening night movie premiere theme, complete with red carpet and popcorn, Bennett hopes that one or two Hong Kong companies might put their boxes together under the Mission Possible charity banner next year.
"I believe more companies are interested in corporate responsibility, not just corporate entertainment, and will follow the lead of firms like AIG, our lead sponsor this year," he said.
