Club's CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team honoured with Outstanding Volunteer Award

9 March 2009

In recognition of its volunteer services in Yuen Long District, the Club's CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team has been honoured with the Award of Merit (Adult Team category) in the Yuen Long District Outstanding Volunteer Election 2008 organised by the Social Welfare Department.  At the presentation ceremony on 7 March, some of the volunteers and Club Head of Public Affairs June Teng received the award on behalf of the team and shared their joyful experiences of volunteering work.

To win the award, CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team has first gone through an initial screening by the Yuen Long District Co-ordinating Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service, followed by an interview with a judging panel comprising professors from different tertiary institutions. At the interview, Club volunteers introduced their services devoted to the district, shared their volunteering experiences as well as presented effectiveness of the services. Although the team has served the district for only one year, their enthusiasm and excellent work have deeply impressed the panel and won them the Award of Merit.

Over the past year, CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team has focused its services on Yuen Long community with the aim of improving people's livelihoods there.  It has organised a series of fulfilling activities for Yuen Long residents including a Chinese New Year lunch gathering, visits to elderly singles in Tin Shui Wai, the biggest-ever Mother's Day Carnival in the district, a trip to the Olympic equestrian events and regular home visits to elderly singles living at remote villages in Yuen Long.  In total, the team has delivered around 2,000 service hours last year, serving more than 5,000 residents in Yuen Long. 

At the end of last year, the team has organised a pilot workshop on the theme of "Antiquities and Monuments" for young people in Yuen Long.  The workshop was well received by the participants and partnered NGOs who gave very positive and encouraging feedback. Riding on this success, CARE organised another workshop on 8 March 2009 in which another seventy young people from Yuen Long were given cross-district heritage tours to learn about characteristics of different districts in Hong Kong, as well as broaden their horizons.  To foster teamwork spirit and build self-confidence, all participants took part in group discussions facilitated by Club volunteers and made presentations at the end of the tours to wrap up their learning.