Give Us This Day Our Daily..... Rice

Ms. Leung is a sweet, energetic, hardworking and loving single mother to her twin 14-year old boys, but each month, after paying all her bills, she seldom has enough money left to buy food for them.

Unfortunately, Ms. Leung isn’t alone. In fact, for every 4.5 persons in Hong Kong, one lives below the poverty line. In total, Hong Kong has 1.65 million people who live in poverty. (Source: Poverty Situation Report for 2020)

Ms. Leung lives with her boys in a sardine-can sized 90 square foot sub-divided apartment, for which her monthly rent and utilities exceed HK$7,000 per month. The inspirational and remarkable thing about her however, is that she has somehow maintained a precious sense of optimism. This is what she had to say:

“I have two growing boys, and since rice is our staple diet, it is really important to give them enough rice to eat each day so they stay healthy and grow. I remember at the height of the 5th wave of the pandemic, people were clearing-out the supermarkets; the rice racks were mostly empty and many people were fearful. To be honest, I wasn't too worried, because I knew I could count on Christian Action to continue providing us with a bag of rice to see us through the difficult times. I am so grateful to Christian Action’s donors for being so kind and caring to my family.”

Christian Action is able to help Ms. Leung and her boys because of donors like you. Our ‘Emergency Food Programme’ began at our Mongkok Service Centre in October 2020. At present, we are providing free meal boxes, rice, eggs, milk, cooking oil and other key food items to around 1,700 service users.

In 2021 we initiated a campaign that invited donors in Hong Kong to convert their Consumption Vouchers into contributions in order to fund the Emergency Food Programme. Donors could give a cash donation or purchase rice packs / supermarket coupons using their Consumption Vouchers.

For 2022 I am appealing to all our friends of Christian Action in Hong Kong to consider parting with a portion of their HKSAR 2022 (Phase II) Consumption Vouchers. Please give generously to those with food security issues, living in sub-divided apartments and on low-incomes or facing temporary unemployment, just like Ms. Leung. Click here to give.

Bless you for your generous giving.

Siew Mei