COVID 19
Serve Beyond the Service
Last Updated (Thursday, 30 June 2022 12:51)
The fifth wave of the pandemic has been rapidly escalating in the community since the beginning of February this year. With the number of confirmed cases growing exponentially, many underresourced families and seniors living alone were out of antiepidemic and living supplies. Therefore, YMCA of Hong Kong Cheung Sha Wan Centre launched a Care Package Campaign for the people in need in Cheung Sha Wan. Miraculously, the Campaign had attracted an anonymous donation of $100,000 that allowed the supplies to include emergency food and daily necessities to 450 families in Cheung Sha Wan and Tung Chung to relieve their urgent needs.
It all started with a phone call...
On February 27, Fish received a call from a single parent, who is on the After School Care Programme and live in a subdivided flat with her 3 children, she expressed her devastation as her entire family had been tested positive. When Fish was planning to purchase some necessities for them, Mary received more calls from other families in the similar dire situations, so they started buying and delivering the supplies to them, on top of their normal duties. While answering the call to response and suffering from manpower shortage as a consequence of their staff being tested positive or undergoing quarantine as close contact, all they thought about was 'how much they could help'.
With the enormous responsibilities ahead of them, they encouraged each other to stay strong and healthy, to step up and rush to rescue those were helpless. They dashed out to purchase supplies for several days and contacted the local grocery shops, "there was a shortage of supplies around town, so we bought whatever was available on the shelves. As soon as we received a call for help, we headed out to deliver the supplies the following day."
The good cause bore fruit and was eventually attracted an anonymous donation of $100,000 for the Care Package Campaign. With the sponsorship, Fish and Mary were able to procure more supplies and expand the reach to 450 families in Cheung Sha Wan and Tung Chung. Besides serving more beneficiaries, they were also able to include supplies to address symptoms such as sore throat, to replace biscuits with cakes; and for those under home quarantine, to bring them canned vegetables to maintain a balanced diet.
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Little did we know that Fish and Mary had given up more than what they did. With Hong Kong facing an onslaught from the 5th wave of the pandemic, work from home had become a common phenomenon, but they were not stopped by any of these. "As I live with my grandmother and daughter, I was worried to put my family at risk, so I decided to stay at The Salisbury temporarily. I found it hard for my family to understand why I am doing this, so I just texted them, and explained to them when I got home at night." Fish's daughter just turned 5 years old, she has never slept alone and away from her family. She could only see her daughter via video call for a whole month because of the work they did. "Thankfully, our families respected our decision and were supportive, so that we could stay focus to serve."
RESPONDING TO THE FIFTH WAVE WITH THE YMCA SPIRIT
Last Updated (Wednesday, 04 May 2022 13:05)
With the unprecedented rise of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong, our city’s underprivileged are facing even harder times than ever before. Hong Kong is a city populated with over 7.6 million people where over-crowdedness is a social problem, especially in the district of Sham Shui Po. Elderlies living alone, the unemployed, new immigrants, low-income families living in subdivided flats and scavengers concentrate in this area. Under normal circumstances, they already encounter lots of challenges in living and working, and now they have to face substantially more hardships under the fifth wave of COVID-19.
Under the dire epidemic situation in Hong Kong, people have to cope with the stress of quarantine and social distancing, especially the isolation of families who tested positive. Subsequently, there comes the return of panic buying of basic necessities such as food and sanitizing products. Facing the urgent needs arose in the society, NGOs in Hong Kong stepped up to fill the gaps in providing rapid antigen test kits, masks, food, and other necessities to the community.
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Being an NGO, serving the community is one of YMCA’s prime missions. Our two community centres, situated at the heart of Sham Shui Po and Tung Chung districts, stand at the frontline to connect and support the neighborhoods. To help people cope with the stress, we have joined the fight in ramping up our efforts to meet the needs of our communities. Through the generous donations and partnerships of like-minded organizations such as Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel, HKEX Foundation, churches and individuals, YMCA of Hong Kong has rallied volunteers and staff to provide necessities and shelters for the people in need.
Read more: RESPONDING TO THE FIFTH WAVE WITH THE YMCA SPIRIT
Last Updated (Monday, 23 August 2021 18:01)
Jeshore YMCA’s Response to COVID-19 pandemic
Currently, the global pandemic is causing a significant impact in Bangladesh compared to the last year 2020. The morbidity and mortality rate of the Covid 19 virus is much higher this time around the country for its quick nature of spreading that impacts the citizens' daily lives. During this dire situation, Jeshore YMCA has undertaken a range of measures to serve the local community.
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