Food Angel- Food Rescue & Food Assistance Program

We have all struggled to think of what to eat for a meal, yet this struggle is such luxury compared to those struggling to feed themselves.  To enrich existing food assistance programme, Food Angel and Bank of China (Hong Kong) introduced ‘Self-serve Station’ as a new addition to existing “Meals on Wheels” programme, which aims to allow service users to have better food assistance experience by having freedom of choice, providing services while caring for the dignity of the members.

For the preparation of recent “Meals on Wheels x Self-serve Station” service at Kwu Tong in Sheung Shui, the Food Angel team has filled the truck with loads of dry food collected through food rescue efforts, which included a wide variety of food items such as noodle packs, canned food, Tea Leaves, snacks etc.  Upon arrival at the Kwu Tong site, our team quickly set up portable shelves for food display and eagerly await our elderly friends to arrive to experience the new service mode. 

“Each person gets 10 Rice Boy tokens to redeem the dry food on the racks……” The team explained how the service works to the elderly.  After taking a shopping basket, the seniors carefully looked through each rack with token labels to select the food items to their delight, as if they were shopping at a supermarket.

The cashier welcomed the first customer of the day, Granny Ling. She selected dried mushrooms, chestnut snacks and few canned goods to take home. She smiled and said, “The dried mushrooms are so expensive and I can’t afford them usually! I’m really happy to get them here.” It turned out that she had lost her ability to work due to diabetic retinopathy earlier. She now relied on CSSA and recycled carton boxes for a living. She also had to bear the high cost of diabetic needles which costs HK$7,000 a box every month. Luckily the support from “Meals on Wheels” food assistance service can now help alleviate some pressure of her daily life.

Mr. Chung, a resident in Kwu Tung for 60 years, expressed satisfaction with the new service mode. He felt that not every food item suited his needs in the assigned food packs in the past. He appreciates that the food choice provided by the ‘Self-serve Station’ is diverse, and he was able to choose what he wants. Another member Auntie Tong also praised the new service is able to help elderly exercise their minds. While selecting food, they can calculate how many tokens they have left.  She candidly said, “Food is great, but most importantly, we can feel love from the community.”

Since 2019, Bank of China (Hong Kong) has supported Food Angel’s “Meals on Wheels” service, aiming to provide food assistance such as cook-chill meals to elderly and needy families living in remote areas. The total number of serving has exceeded 610,000.  The newly added “Self-serve Station” expects to continue roll out at designated areas in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Sheung Shui.