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Coronavirus pandemic
Hong KongSociety

Exclusive | Coronavirus-battered NGOs say Hong Kong’s charity sector needs government aid to keep doing their work, avoid redundancies

  • More than 60 per cent of respondents to a survey reported funding down by a third as fundraisers have been cancelled amid the city’s battle with Covid-19
  • Some smaller organisations could be closed in as soon as two months without a cash injection, new task force says

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Local charities that perform numerous functions, including handing out food and surgical masks during the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, have seen their fundraising battered as numerous events have been cancelled over Covid-19 fears. Photo: The Church of Christ in China Yaumati Kei To Church
Laura Westbrook

A group of larger Hong Kong non-governmental organisations (NGOs) helping the city’s needy is calling for help themselves as donations dry up amid the coronavirus epidemic.

The NGOs told the Post this week that some in the sector were struggling to stay afloat and warned of a wave of redundancies after the epidemic triggered cancellations of numerous fundraising events, a blow the organisations said they had already sustained during anti-government protests.

Some are now appealing to the government for funding support, saying the sector – which employs 52,000 people – is not among those benefiting from the HK$30 billion relief package rolled out last month.
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Elderly residents receive donated emergency relief items as part of a citywide collection and distribution effort coordinated by HandsOn Hong Kong. Photo: HandsOn Hong Kong
Elderly residents receive donated emergency relief items as part of a citywide collection and distribution effort coordinated by HandsOn Hong Kong. Photo: HandsOn Hong Kong
“In the same way as the government seems to be acting quickly to help small businesses, we’d like to see similar consideration given to non-profit organisations,” said Sue Toomey, executive director of HandsOn Hong Kong, a charity that connects volunteers with community needs.
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Toomey is among a group of women leaders from seven charities who have joined forces to create a volunteer task force and written a letter of appeal to the government on behalf of many charities in their sector who need it most.

They are Jo Hayes, CEO at Habitat for Humanity Hong Kong; Shalini Mahtani, founder and CEO at the Zubin Foundation; Angelyn Lim, the programme director of Asian Charity Services; Sky Siu, the executive director of KELY Support Group; Judy Kong, chief executive of InspiringHK Sports Foundation; Toomey of HandsOn; and Jonnet Bernal of the Christian Action Centre for Refugees.
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