Celebrity Life

In the first of a series dedicated to people being the change they’d like to see in the world, here’s our salute to women in philanthropy.

Since the summer of 2020, MacKenzie Scott has donated almost $8.5 billion to 798 non-profit organisations, with no strings attached. Her famous ex, near-trillionaire Jeff Bezos, has set up a $10 billion initiative to fight climate change. It brings to mind the phrase, “If you want something said, ask a man, if you want something done, ask a woman.”

Here’s an ad hoc list of women in philanthropy we’ve been keeping tabs on for a while. They’re the founders, leaders and advocates for notable and worthy causes in the city, who are making an impact locally – and perhaps even globally. Fighting for rights, providing safe houses and shelter, raising funds and awareness, adopting, fostering, feeding – these driven women do it all.

This is by no means a comprehensive list; we aim to continue adding women in philanthropy in the coming year and hope you, our readers, will inform and enlighten the editors of Prestige with news and information about worthy causes and noteworthy names.

Women in Philanthropy

Alia Marwah Eyres
CEO of Mother’s Choice

Alia Marwah Eyres often volunteered at Mother’s Choice when she was younger, an experience that fuelled her passion to change the life stories of vulnerable children, youth, and families – leading her back to a leadership role at the charity that serves the needs of both children without families and pregnant teenagers.

Amanda Cheung
First Initiative Foundation (FIF)

Amanda Cheung is the managing director of First Initiative Foundation (FIF). Her mother, Michelle Ong, set up the foundation over a decade ago as a way of supporting Hong Kong’s creative community.
fif.org.hk

Belinda Koo
Founder of One Ten Foundation

A charity aiming to equip young adults, aged 12 to 24, with high emotional resilience through integrating non-competitive sports with evidence-based therapeutic concepts.
weareoneten.org

Cathy Lee
Goodwill Ambassador of The Chi Heng Foundation

The Chi Heng Foundation promotes equal opportunity and the elimination of discrimination against minority groups and underprivileged members of society. From supporting children who are affected by HIV and Aids throughout mainland China to funding and operating projects in education and care for children and adults impacted by Aids, the Foundation also educates about Aids prevention and the need for anti-discrimination practices.

Cissy Wang
Co-founder of Go.Asia

An online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities, Go.Asia is a charitable initiative that aims to improve society through collective and individual efforts.
go.asia

Daisy Tam
Founder of Breadline and Hong Kong Foodworks

Combating the shocking level of food waste in Hong Kong, Breadline connects bakeries with volunteers wanting to pick up leftover loaves to deliver to charities.
breadline.hkfoodworks.com

Emily Lam-Ho
Co-founder of EcoDrive

EcoDrive promotes the awareness and reduction of single-use plastic in Hong Kong through education, connecting with corporates, and providing possible solutions.
ecodrivehk.com

Gabrielle Kirstein
Founder of Feeding HK

Providing food sourcing, operations, charity distribution and volunteer coordination, Feeding HK ensures surplus food goes to feed people, not landfills.
feedinghk.org

Jacqueline Chow
Treasurer and Fundraising Committee Member of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC)

To lead and excel in keeping children healthy, happy and safe, the HKDSPC provides for and promotes the care, education and social development of children and families, in partnership with the community.
hkspc.org

Jennifer Yu-Cheng
Founder of Jennifer Yu Cheng Girls Impact Foundation

Providing teenage girls with opportunities for a future-ready education in STEM fields, the mission at JYC Girls Impact Foundation is to open the door for all girls, providing them education access, tech skills and mindset, and the inspiration and ability to lead.
jycgirlsimpact.org

Joanna Hotung
Founder of Youth Diabetes Action

Youth Diabetes Action (YDA) is a charity dedicated to supporting children and adolescents with diabetes in Hong Kong, as well as their families.
yda.org.hk

Joanna Lui-Hilcox
Executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group Foundation

The philanthropic activities of the GEG Foundation spread across Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China and run the gamut; from nurturing young talent to providing for the elderly, art and artists, music or medicine, the Foundation’s charitable arm and remit are vast.
gegfoundation.org.mo

Karen Chan
Creative Director and Co-Founder of HKCRAFTS

HKCRAFTS integrates various design elements into local fading crafts and supports local emerging artists and designers. Working with local artisans to train others, HKCRAFTS sheds light on fading, unique local artists – and giving them another chance, suitable employment and funding.
hkcrafts.ooo

Katherine Lo
Founder Of Eaton Workshop

Eaton Workshop is a mission-driven global hospitality company dedicated to shaping a better world based on values of inclusivity and equity, and providing a platform that holds space for belonging, expression and collective change. Activism and advocacy for a range of progressive issues are at the heart of all its programmes.
eatonworkshop.com

Kaye Dong
Founder of K for Kids Foundation

K for Kids Foundation Limited focuses on helping children with the biggest needs, aiming to provide resources, opportunities and support through educational and extra-curricular programmes and activities built on the foundation of core values: respect, responsibility, kindness, passion, happiness and love.

Laurinda Ho
Smile with Us HK

Launched in 2017 and making use of social media to raise awareness, Laurinda Ho’s initiative Smile with Us HK organises regular visits to homes for the elderly and families of children with special needs. It also provides food, clothing and school supplies – whatever the need, the foundation works with the local community and those in mainland China.

Michele Lai
Founder of Kids4Kids

Kids4Kids nurtures change through reimagining ways of learning and rethinking social expectations, galvanising youth to work together and connecting individuals with communities.
kids4kids.org.hk

Patricia Ho
Founder Of Hong Kong Dignity Institute

The HK Dignity Institute fights for marginalised communities, asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking and discrimination, vulnerable women and child victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Sian Taylor
Charity Director Of Box Of Hope

Box of Hope is a charity project aimed at teaching Hong Kong school students about giving through providing useful/educational gifts to underprivileged children in Hong Kong and Asia, which are donated entirely by local school children and organisations. The boxes are collected and delivered directly to the children in need across eight Asian countries.

Victoria Tang-Owen
President Of The Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association

The association is committed to serving individuals with Down Syndrome, intellectual disabilities or other disabilities and their family members with integrated family support and vocational rehabilitation services. In recent years, it’s expanded its social enterprises with the aim of increasing vocational training and job opportunities for people with disabilities, while promoting the concept of social inclusion.
hk-dsa.org.hk

Yvonne Lui
The Yvonne Lui Trust

Established in 2013, the Hong Kong-based Yvonne Lui Trust works with a wide range of NGO partners with a mission to develop sustainability initiatives through innovative solutions, promote the importance of health and enhance the accessibility to quality education and art.
yvonneluitrust.org

Tell us about your charity of choice and more women in philanthropy – contact us with information and links at editor@burda.hk

The post Women in Philanthropy: Hong Kong Names Dedicated to Change appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

As the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children marks its 95th anniversary, philanthropist Jacqueline Chow tells us why the charity speaks to her heart.

For 18 years, Jacqueline Chow has been a leading light of the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children (HKSPC), a tradition she’s carried on from her mother and great-grandmother, and is proudly passing on to her two daughters as well.

Jacqueline Chow on the HKSPC's 95th Anniversary

“My great-grandmother, May Woo, wife of Dr Arthur Woo, used to be a member of the Women’s Auxiliary in the 1930s, which is now the fund-raising committee of the HKSPC,” says Jacqueline Chow. “My mother volunteered for the fund-raising committee for more than 20 years.”

Like their mother, Chow’s daughters have also been aware of the HKSPC since early childhood. Chow tells me she takes them to the centre regularly. “What they observe themselves is more significant and memorable than what I can tell them in words. They’ve helped to sell flags on our charity flag days since they were toddlers.”

Her elder daughter Gabriella helped the charity raise more than HK$200,000 when she auctioned one of her paintings at the HKSPC Little Artists fundraising event earlier this year. “They know very well that being able to give is a form of blessing,” says Chow. “They’re very grateful and feel fortunate to be able to help underprivileged children in Hong Kong.”

This month, the HKSPC celebrates its 95th anniversary, marking a significant milestone since Thomas Maynard Hazlerigg, a former British army officer, established the society with a mission to build a healthy, happy and safe environment for children from all backgrounds.

The longest-established organisation of its kind, the HKSPC serves around 3,000 children and families each day

The society, which opened its first baby health centre in 1951, today operates 29 units serving children aged up to 16, as well as providing support for working and single parents, and low-income, newly arrived and ethnic-minority families, as well as those on social-security assistance (CSSA). The longest-established organisation of its kind, it serves around 3,000 children and families each day.

Chow sat as the chairperson for the fundraising committee between 2014 and 2017, and today, along with her brother Evan, continues to take an active part in the society’s executive and finance committees, and management sub-committee. She proudly tells me she helped bring in almost half the current fund-raising committee members. “I’ve lined up many notable individual donors, institutions, and luxury and local brands to have a wide range of collaborations, along with organising various fund-raising activities,” she says.

The pandemic didn’t dampen the society’s efforts, even as physical fundraising events couldn’t proceed. “We turned every challenge into new opportunities,” says Chow, who quickly adapted to hosting online fundraising series, including Little Musicians and Little Artists, in which young philanthropists were encouraged to take part. During the peak of Covid in early 2020. when supplies were lacking, the HKSPC also rallied members and the public to donate anti-epidemic items to support the needs of children and their families.

Much has been done to safeguard children’s rights, but there’s still a lot to do. In celebrating the 95th anniversary with a Game Night at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on December 12, Chow hopes that funds will continue to come in to support the society’s various missions.

“Covid has changed the world in many aspects,” says Chow. “Children and their families are facing a completely new lifestyle and unexpected challenges.”

One such challenge was for both parents to find work, which led to day-care shortages, as the HKSPC quickly realised. By March 2020, it had received 1,959 applications for the 329 places at its five-day crèches, almost six times its service quota. Depending on continued funding from patrons and cooperation with the relevant government departments, the society is hoping to open a sixth-day crèche, in North District, to cater to an urgent need from dual-income families.

With pressures continuing to rise on children and families in need, Chow believes maintaining good mental health is also key for the HKSPC’s future campaigns. “Parenting education will be one of the highlights in the next few years,” she says. “We’ll focus on promoting the appropriate parenting style and attitudes towards child-rearing and education issues.’

Aside from her 18 years of active participation in the HKSPC, Chow’s philanthropic efforts include a seat on the board of the YWCA, membership of the Hong Kong Ballet Guild and her work as an independent school manager at the Ebenezer School and Home for the Visually Impaired. Evidently, philanthropy not only runs in her blood, but it also brings her joy.

“I get so much happiness and satisfaction through volunteering for various charities and helping others,” says Chow. “It’s more precious to me than monetary rewards. To me, the more giving you are, the more you will receive.”

The post Jacqueline Chow on HKSPC’s 95th Anniversary appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.