Blog Tag: Hunger
Sunshine Action food packing
Posted by Peter MUIR
Sunshine action is looking for volunteers to support its food distribution programme. During September and October the organisation will distribute over 3000 Food bags for the less privileged and elderly in Hong Kong through at least 30 local centers. This is estimated to directly benefit over 6,000 people.
Volunteers are needed for food packing this coming Saturday September 3, between 8:30am – 12:30noon.
The venue for food packing is the Buddhist Lim Kim Tian Memorial Primary School, Kwai Fong Estate, Kwai Chung (five minutes from Kwai Fong MTR A exit)
If you wish to get involved you must email sunshine@sunshine-action.org or call +852 68884028
40hr Famine at DC
Posted by Peter MUIR
Discovery College be hosting a 40-hour famine from the 14th – 16th of April. Open to all Year 10 – 13 DC students, this event aims to raise awareness about the near to one billion people who face world hunger every day. Working along side World Vision, an organisation that works directly with the people who face hunger, join us to help them find sustainable ways to live and end world hunger!
Start – Thursday, 14th of April 5pm
End – Saturday, 16 of April 9am
Sleepover (optional) – Friday, 15th of April, 5pm at DP Centre
We are fortunate enough to have a representative from World Vision present a thematic talk on poverty and hunger on Wednesday, 23rd of March at 1:30pm in the Whitebox. Come along and learn about hardships people go though and how you can get involved.
Here is the permission form. Please hand it in at the thematic talk to receive your sponsorship form.
If you have any questions feel free to email either one of us at tyra.eberwein@dc.edu.hk orlucie.cameron@dc.edu.hk
Food Drive for World Food Day
Posted by Peter MUIR
The World Food Day Year 8 Committee is holding a food drive as a part of World Food Day (October 16). The food collected will be distributed to the Feeding Hong Kong organisation , who will then pass it on to those in Hong Kong who have issues with accessing enough food on a daily basis.
Please being in your donations of non-perishable food items to this worthy cause and leave them in the collection point outside of the security guard office by the school front entrance. Donations will be collected until the 16th of October. Click here for a list of food items to donate
Hungry for Change
Posted by Peter MUIR
The Justice Centre Hong Kong have launched a new campaign called Hungry for Change which provides students an opportunity to take action for a meaningful cause.
What is it?
Hungry for Change is a new campaign in Hong Kong, which seeks to bring about change to the way refugees must access food here. It challenges the public to eat like a refugee for three days and petitions the Hong Kong Government to allow refugees to eat in dignity. The campaign will run Tuesday-Thursday October 14-16, culminating on World Food Day (Thursday October 16).
Refugees and Food
We all have to eat. It’s a basic human need for everyone, no matter where we come from. But for refugees in Hong Kong, it’s an especially hard need to fulfill. Refugee men, women and children flee from some of the world’s worst human rights abuses and experience things that you and I could never imagine. They often arrive in Hong Kong with nothing but the clothes on their back and, not allowed to work, they have no income of their own to help them survive.
So how do they eat? The Hong Kong Government provides them with pre-packaged bags of food, which refugees pick up every five to ten days from a shop often far from where they live. The food is said to be worth HK$40 per day, supposed to cover three meals each day and last for up to ten days. But, when we price-compare the food they receive with food for sale in supermarkets, we see that the food they get is worth much less. Often it runs out before the next pick up; sometimes it is expired; always it is limited in choice and quantity.
But it does not have to be this way, for in a city of plenty like Hong Kong, no one should have to live like this.
So, what can you do?
With Hungry for Change, you can join us in taking positive action to change this by doing a few simple and effective things. You can:
- Take the HK$40-a-day food challenge in solidarity with Hong Kong’s refugees, to walk a few days in their shoes and help bring life to their experiences.
- Get sponsored through this challenge and donate the money to provide food for refugees at Justice Centre Hong Kong and to support our advocacy work on refugee issues
- Sign the petition to ask the Hong Kong Government to let refugees eat in dignity by giving them small amounts of cash to buy their own food.
- Spread the word and use the power of social media to get friends and family involved.
We would like some senior DC students to drive this campaign at DC, and get as many people as possible to take up the challenge to support Hong Kong’s refugees. Because change only happens when we take action together. Email Mr Muir if you are interested in driving this campaign (for Yr 11 or Yr12 students only)
Be the Change. Be Hungry for Change
40-hour famine
Posted by Peter MUIR
For the third year in a row, DC students gathered to take part in 40 hour fast to raise awareness about world hunger. Organized by students, the 40 Hour Famine aims to not only raise awareness about world hunger but also raise money for World Vision, a charity dedicating to breaking the poverty cycle and reducing hunger.
Students that have taken part in the fast, all agreed that it was an eye opening experience. “Before I did the famine, I overlooked hunger’s other side effects like dizziness, and inability to concentrate. These things must have a big effect on how a child learns which is a big factor in breaking out of the poverty cycle” said Tra My Hickin, one of the event organizers.
Those who took part this year managed to raise over $20,000 for World Vision, who will use the funds in their efforts combating hunger and famine.
A special thanks goes to teachers Flora Mather, Danny Freer, and Lissie and Brandon Nichols for supervising the sleepover that was a part of the DC famine.
Feeding Hong Kong Chinese New Year Food Drive
Posted by Peter MUIR
Fill a bag and feed a family in need this February!
How can you help?
Feeding Hong Kong supports local welfare organisations that provide food support to those in need in our city. Our 47 charity partners include shelters for the homeless, migrant worker and women’s refuges, senior day centers and other non-profit programmes that provide food to the hungry. With your support, we can make a special delivery to them this Chinese New Year.
What next?
RSVP and advise:
- Name and address of your organisation
- Key contact person (name, email, tel)
- Date of your food drive (can last a day, a week or as long as a month!)
You can drop off your donation of groceries at our warehouse.Our most needed items this month:
Pineapple, peaches etc in natural fruit juice or light syrup
Canned bamboo shoots Canned/dried mushrooms Vermicelli
Low sodium, in water Whole, straw, black fungus etc. Sealed or vacuum packs
Dried shrimps Red dates Soy sauce
Sealed or vacuum packs Sealed or vacuum packs Low sodium
Feeding Hong Kong Bread Run
Posted by admin
Help Feeding Hong Kong bridge the gap between hunger and food waste by helping them collect fresh bread and sandwiches from shops across Hong Kong at closing time.
The Bread Run engages individual and pairs of volunteers in the nightly collection of surplus fresh bread. Each bread runner visits 1-2 stores at closing time to pick up the surplus and then delivers the items to a designated FHK drop-off point. All bread run donations are redistributed via the FHK charity network the same night or first thing the following morning.
There are three ways you could get involved in Feeding HKs Bread Run –
1. Become a weekly FHK volunteer
2. Join the FHK monthly Bread Run
3. Host a dedicated Bread Run for a group of volunteers
For more details, visit the bread run website.
World Food Day – volunteers wanted
Posted by admin
Did you know that about a third of all food produced globally is wasted? Here in Hong Kong, according to Friends of the Earth (HK), we produce over 3,000 tonnes of food waste every year! Then of course there are the food issues of famine and ensuring that we produce enough food for an ever-increasing world population.
World Food Day (16th of October every year) is a day declared by the UN General Assembly to aim to heighten public awareness of world food problems and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. We will be holding events / activities here at DC to celebrate this day as a part of our Community Engagement. We are asking for Year 9 students to form an committee that will orgniase our involvement. Keen to get involved? Then click here and sign up today as there is a limit on how many people can join this committee. And yes – this would be a C&S Project.
Survive 5 Facebook Challenge
Posted by Peter MUIR
World Vision have initiated a worthwhile challenge – why not get involved And for those DC students doing the 40-hour famine, combining the famine with this activity could be considered a C&S Project.
Every day, 19,000 children die before reaching their 5th birthday because of preventable causes like malnutrition, pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Sunday, 5th May (5/5) is Survive 5 Day – where advocates around the world will make noise about under-five child deaths, but we need your help!
Create a unique “Survive 5” Facebook timeline cover that shows why people should care about child mortality.
The top 5 designs will win and be featured by World Vision’s GLOBAL Child Health Now campaign to be used by advocates all around the world! These winners will also receive a gift certificate to Society 6, where World Vision Youth sells unique art inspired items!
Learn how to get started & download starter resources at the “Survive 5” Facebook Design Competition challenge page.
40 Hour Famine
Posted by Peter MUIR
From Thursday 25 April 2013, there will be a 40 Hour Famine hosted at DC, open to any secondary student over the age of 12 who wishes to participate. The aim of this event is to raise awareness about world hunger by going on a 40 hour fast. By participating in this event your child will experience a small glimpse of the hardships of starvation that nearly 1 billion people worldwide face everyday. It also promotes compassion by giving up something for the sake of others in need, providing an opportunity to help others in their global community.
Participants in the event will cease consuming any type of food from 5pm on Thursday 25 April until 9am on Saturday 27 April. The consumption of water, however, is still essential and volunteers are advised to drink as much water as possible during the event. Volunteers will be responsible for bringing their own water bottles to school, and these can be refilled at one of the many water fountains. Sugar, in the form of small sweets, will be provided to keep participants’ sugar levels up, but these are to be consumed at a minimum.
Those participating are also encouraged to find donors to sponsor them during the event. The funds raised will be donated to World Vision and help their plight against world hunger and breaking the poverty cycle. Attached is a sponsor form that students should use to acquire sponsors. Please return the sponsor form with the money (cash) to the 40 Hour Famine information booths, which will be in the main foyer on the Monday after the event.
To enhance the experience, students in Years 10-12 who are participating in the fast have the option to join an overnight stay at the school, from 3.15pm Friday 26 April until 9am the following morning. The overnight stay will be held in the school gym, as it offers the participants an uncomfortable environment to fast in, aiming to further develop empathy of those around the world who live in poverty. This is also to ensure that participants will not break the fast, and allows participants to fast communally, teachers and students alike.
Students who are keen to take part in either the famine or the overnight stay will need to obtain the relevant permission forms from the school office.
