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| Auctioneer Kristine is all smiles as she acknowledges $80k donation |
There were again lots of spontaneous gasps and
cheers at the annual fundraising banquet of the International Care Ministries held
last Saturday night at the JW Marriot in Admiralty, as donors opened their wallets
wide for the charity that raises money for the “poorest of the poor” in the Philippines.
At the end of the night that seemed to indicate that
Hong Kong might well be on its way to full recovery after the pandemic, the
32-year-old charity group managed to raise a total of HK$12.5 million.
ICM chair David Sutherland who announced the fundraising
results to co-organizers via email, said the amount could go up some more when more
donations pour in from other places and sources.
“We are very pleased,” said Sutherland. “Last year
we had a lot of ‘extra donations’ and we finished with HK$13.3 m, so we hope to
see additional donations in the days ahead.”
He said the initial amount raised on the night of
the banquet last year was $11.8 million, while it was $12.6 million in 2022.
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| Sutherland says ICM is already doing an outreach in Guatemala and Uganda |
At Saturday’s banquet, a big number of the more than
300 guests did not think twice about raising their numbered paddles as veteran
auctioneer Kristine Fladeboe Duininck called for on-the-spot donations of cash
starting from $800,000, all the way down to $8,000.
According to Sutherland, a total of 86 people pitched
in to raise $6.1 million that should support more than 50,000 family members in
the Philippines through ICM’s four-month Transform program.
The flagship program’s goal is to build hope,
provide income opportunity, improve family health, and ensure education for tens
of thousands of marginalized Filipinos in 14 provinces where ICM operates. The weekly
so-called H.O.P.E. training sessions are hosted by pastors in local churches.
Equally popular among banquet donors was the
campaign to provide for the health needs of ICM beneficiaries through the
Medical Mercy Fund. A video showing how Colleen, a young girl who was born
deaf, learn how to speak for the first time after surgery and therapy funded by ICM, poignantly drove home the message of
how the fund could help change the lives of many.
Sutherland said 23 people donated a total of $249,000
in support of the Fund, enabling about 100 people to receive surgeries.
The traditional live auction held at three different
times over dinner, raised a total of $685,000. The main feature was the auction
for the star sapphire pendant or brooch, adorned with five cabochon sapphires totaling
11 carats and leaves made of diamonds. The jewelry went for nearly $500,000
from a starting bid of $350,000.
Raising a further $721,000 was the silent bidding
for 76 items, ranging from paintings to jewelry and hotel stays, to the highly
popular bamboo gin from the Philippines.
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| ICM is now on its 20th year of providing help to the Philippines' 'ultra poor' people |
Boosting the amount raised was the US$500,000 pledged
by a church in the United States which committed to match every donation of
$80,000 to $200,000 made during the banquet. Sutherland said the pledged amount
was matched, almost to the penny.
But, he said a donor has offered an additional
US$100,000 (or $HK775,000) of matching funds which he said they aim to unlock
in the next few days, if more gifts of HK$80,000 to $200,000 are made.
“If there are a few of you who weren’t able to pledge last night that
would consider a donation in this range, it would allow ICM to serve so many
more family members with lasting change,” he said.
Sutherland
said ICM has also begun serving ultra poor communities in Uganda and Guatemala,
and will start its outreaches in Burundi, and Cambodia next year. However, the
bulk of its resources is still used to help beneficiaries in the Philippines.
ICM
has 14 operational bases across the Visayas and Mindanao: in Puerto Princesa,
Kalibo, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cebu, Tagbilaran, Tacloban, Dipolog,
Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Koronadal, General Santos and Davao.
For more information on ICM’s work, please visit their website: https://www.caremin.com/
