Food Angel- Food Rescue & Food Assistance Program

During the outbreak of COVID-19 from February to May 2020, Food Angel had to suspend the hot meal services and community centre services as the venues have to be temporarily closed to reduce the risk of infection among service users, staff and volunteers. We were very concerned with the livelihoods of our members from deprived families as many faced unemployment and shortened work hours, as well as our elderly who were unable to source infection control items like masks and hand sanitizers. To cope with the situation, we tried to change our mode of production and service.

At the beginning, we served a weekly food pack with purchased food items such as rice packs, canned food and vegetables using donations and funds, and asked our members to collect the packs once a week instead of daily, as to minimize the needed journey to travel to our centre to reduce exposure and number of gatherings. We tried to maintain our outreach service to deliver the food packs to the elderly who are most fragile. With the kind donation from different companies and the general public, we were able to include masks and sanitizing items in our packs, which were precious gifts to our members. Together with our charity partners, we hoped to sustain our meal services as much as we could.

From March onward, we resumed cook-chill meal production at our Harvest Mill, so we could produce cook-chill dishes to add some variety to the weekly food packs.We were also grateful that with larger sponsorships, we could deliver meal coupons from convenience stores and fast food chains, soup coupons and supermarket coupons, so the service users could purchase necessary items. 

Recently starting from June, both our hot and cook-chill meal production have resumed as the number of local cases remain low in Hong Kong. We hope everybody can stay safe and healthy. Together we can fight the virus! Thank you very much for your kind support.

Four years ago, an elder Yuet Sim who was reaching age 80, resided alone in the makeshift ‘rooftop flat’ on the ninth floor at an old Chinese tenement building with inadequate facilities in one of the poorest districts in Hong Kong. The flat was without a kitchen, toilet nor a proper bed frame. As the structure was built with simple metal sheets, it got stuffy during sunny days, and water is leaked on cooler rainy days. Every day, Yuet Sim collected cardboard boxes from the streets to make a living, and life was harsh. With a small social circle, Yuet Sim saw Food Angel Community Center as her second home, as a place she can chat and hang around with the other fellow diners, volunteers and staff.

Four years onward, Yuet Sim has gained a bit of “happy weight”, as she has finally been allocated a flat at a public housing estate, so she is spared from taking nine flights of stairs to reach home. She is also eligible to obtain government subsidy, thus she no longer has to collect cardboard boxes to earn a living. Although things have changed for the better, you can still find Yuet Sim at our community centre daily, making pleasant conversations with her friends there. She still sees the Food Angel community centre as her second home.
While some may say Yuet Sim’s life is still rather bland, she is grateful and content for her current living, as she knows not to take love and care for granted. Yuet Sim, we hope you know that our hearts are also full with joy and contentment to see your satisfied and worry-free smile every day.

There are over 1.4 million in Hong Kong living in poverty, and among them 30% are elderly. Please donate and support Food Angel's food rescue and food assistance programme, and help many other singletone elderly like Yuet Sim.