The Community Chest yesterday announced it would cut funding to its 143 members by $64 million over the next two years because of a fund-raising crisis.
Hardest hit will be government-subsidised centres for the elderly, which will have funding of $33 million from the charity group withdrawn.
The Chest has failed to meet its target of raising $180 million this year and a shortfall of $40 million has to be made up by drawing on its reserves. The shortfall is expected to continue in coming years.
According to the plan announced yesterday, funding for each member agency will be cut by between 0.9 per cent and 15 per cent, depending on the extent of their financial reliance on the Chest. The cuts would be limited to 1.8 per cent of the total budget of individual agencies.
John Chan Cho-chak, chairman of the charity's executive committee, said it was hoped the impact on the organisations would be minimal.
'This is a painful decision for the Chest and we will do our utmost to achieve these savings in a way which would minimise the difficulties to our member agencies,' he said.
