Disney, charity Kids4Kids team up to fight child poverty

Hong Kong may be one of the wealthiest cities in Asia, but one in four children here (that's about 270,000) live in poverty, a recent report by the Institute of Education revealed.

With this alarming statistic in mind, local charity Kids4Kids and The Walt Disney Company (Asia Pacific) have launched Action for a Cause: IMPACT! Video and Project Challenge, a two-pronged campaign to engage Hongkongers between the ages of six and 18 with the issue of poverty.

The video challenge asks kids from any background to make a 15- to 30-second clip to raise awareness of the basic needs of children living in poverty. Once filmed and edited, their work should be uploaded onto a social media platform - YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc - and include the handle @kids4kidshk and the hashtag #IamImpact.

The best three videos will be selected by a panel of judges and the creators of each awarded HK$1,000 in iTunes or Amazon vouchers.

For the project challenge, participants are required to design an initiative targeting, for example, nutritional or emotional issues of children living in poverty. The top 20 contenders will each get HK$3,000 to roll out their project with the help of a Kids4Kids mentor.

"This campaign inspires and empowers kids to take action no matter how big or small," says Kids4Kids founder Michele Lai Pek-lian.