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| Mission's staff and clients hold up some of the donated goods coursed through FOOD-CO |
More than 100 clients of the Mission for Migrant Workers
have started receiving box-full of grocery items coursed through FOOD-CO, an IT
platform that helps feed the needy in Hong Kong by matching up food donors with
food service operators.
Johannie Tong, community relations officer of the Mission
“That’s just for this round,” Tong says. “They said they
will notify us if there is another around.
Among the first to benefit from the food bonanza were four
Filipina domestic workers who have been stranded in Hong Kong after losing their
jobs, and are being helped by the Mission
Each received 20 various items, including oatmeal, canned
fish and beans, creamed corn and noodles.
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| Each beneficiary gets all these items, enough to fill a box |
“This will be enough to feed all of us in our boarding
house,” said one client who said she was pursuing a claim for unpaid wages from
her former employers who had relocated to Singapore
Among the lucky ones to get the food aid early was Charlene,
who was on her first visit to the Mission
She was thrown out of her employer’s house last Friday,
after she asked to be allowed to take a day-off. Charlene said she was not
allowed to leave the house since January, with her employer using the
coronavirus outbreak as excuse.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang kwentong Dream Love. |
According to Esther Bangcawayan, case officer of the Mission
But a more substantial food donation was coursed their way
this time because the IT platform realized that the pandemic has left many
people in Hong Kong , including migrant
workers, in distress.
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| The beneficiaries say they will share the food relief with fellow distressed migrant workers |
FOOD-CO was set up in 2016 through a $10 million grant to St
James’ Settlement by the HK government’s Social Innovation &
Entrepreneurship Development Fund.
The IT platform uses technology and data analysis to
facilitate food donations in a more efficient way.
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Since its founding, FOOD-CO has linked up 300 organizations
that serve as food donors, and 200 groups that act as support service
operators.
The members registered on the platform include a local
gourmet group which donates its leftover fresh vegetables and unused
ingredients, and a logistics company which stores donated goods in its
warehouse.
FOOD-CO now covers all 18 districts in Hong
Kong , and is on target to serve 53,000 sets of food per day,
benefiting some 22,000 people.
