Charities

Supporting charities

We are delighted to work in partnership with charities, both local and overseas, that support families and children who live in very challenging circumstances. Through our work with these charities, we are able to help bring some happiness to where it is most needed.

Our Charities Team, work closely with these organisations to ensure we support them in the correct manner, tailoring their box provision in terms of content suited to child age and sometimes gender. In 2021, there was an increase in requests for both infant and teenage boxes, which we were delighted to fulfil. We anticipate that these numbers will continue to increase this year.

We receive feedback from both the charities and the box recipients, to make sure that the boxes they receive are both useful and fun, and of course to find out if they have brought a smile!

Whilst we have worked with some of the charities below for many years, we are also delighted to receive requests from new charities and organisations to help where it is needed the most.

charities in Hong Kong

charities in Cambodia

charities in the Philippines

charities in Pakistan

The Children We Support

The narratives are based on true stories from charities we support.

Cherry

: Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Cherry is a 13 year old who lives in a 10 square meter subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po. She and her mother moved to Hong Kong from Guangdong in 2019 to be with her father who had moved to the city in 2013.

Unfortunately, soon after Cherry arrived in Hong Kong her father’s health began to deteriorate. His diabetes worsened affecting his kidney and causing difficulties with walking. He has also suffered with his eyesight and despite having two eye surgeries he is blind at 47 years of age. He is sadly no longer able to work.

Cherry’s mother works long hours as a security guard earning $11,000 per month. Half of her income is spent on the family’s rent. Due to the cost of medical bills, and supporting Cherry’s brother who studies at Guangzhou University, the family has to borrow a further $5,000 from their relatives and friends in order to cover their costs.

On top of her usual school day, Cherry now helps to care for her father, administering his insulin injections, as well as helping at home to prepare meals and doing other household chores including cleaning. She also tries to help her mother a little by collecting plastic bottles and newspapers on her way to and from school, earning $10 for the two bags of waste she can exchange at the recycling store.

Cherry feels that she has had to grow up quickly, but she finds solace in learning. She says that learning allows her to forget her worries. She sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and studies quietly so that she doesn’t wake her parents sleeping in the bunk below hers.

How can receiving a Box of Hope help Cherry?

Name: Sophy
Age: 12
Lives in: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Sophy is 12 years old and lives in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Every day Sophy excitedly gets up, puts on her school uniform and packs her bag full of school books. She feels very lucky to be able to attend her school, which is set up by a charity and offers her a high quality education in English. Sophy hopes to go to university when she is older. But she only began attending school aged 11. Before this, her life was very different.

Until aged 11 her family life was very unstable. Her family would move from place to place, and sometimes they needed to live in a makeshift tent on a rubbish dump. There, Sophy would scavenge the dump from morning until dark searching for anything that could be sold.

If Sophy and her family could earn enough money that day, they would buy four small packs of rice for their dinner. Otherwise, they would find discarded food on the dump. Sophy only had one set of clothes which were also scavenged from the dump.

Now, Sophy has a sponsor from Australia who helps to pay for her educational needs. She talks to him often using the school’s computer. She eats lunch at school which is provided to her for free too.

In general the help Sophy receives from her sponsor and the charity not only helps her, but helps in the community in which she lives to break down barriers which would stop her and children like her from attending school and working towards a financially stable future.

Sophy is very glad that the rubbish dump has been closed down. Sophy’s father works as a tuk tuk driver during the daytime and he is very proud that Sophy is learning and working her way to a better future.

How can receiving a Box of Hope help Sophy?
When Sophy lived on the rubbish dump basic hygiene and cleanliness where not accessible, so having items such as soap, a flannel, and toothpaste are important to her. Having stationary, and notebooks give Sophy tools she needs to continue and complete her education. In a poor community, having gifts and a toy to play with are a welcome kindness.

Name: Riva

Age: 8

Lives in: Jordan, Hong Kong

Riva lives with her parents, and her elder sister in a divided apartment in Jordan, a densely populated, old district in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Their living space is just about 70 square feet. The small space has little ventilation and becomes stifling in the hot and humid summer as the sun streams in.

Riva’s parents did not receive an adequate education making it difficult for them to find stable jobs. Riva’s father sometimes works as a construction worker, sometimes as a security guard. Her mother works in a low-order restaurant, washing dishes. During the Covid pandemic years, they lost their jobs periodically which caused further difficulties for the family.

Because of the family’s low income, they struggle to maintain a healthy diet and Riva sometimes does not get enough nutrition. Most of her clothes, school uniform and school bag are handed down from her elder sister and she rarely receives anything new. Like all children, Riva likes stationery, but because there is no money to buy new items, she uses her pencil until it is less than 6cm long to extend its use for as long as possible. She does the same with her eraser.

How can receiving a Box of Hope help Riva?

Everyday items such as stationery and notebooks will be a gift to Riva that will light up her face. The family has very little money for books so a children’s story book would bring Riva the gift of reading, supporting her education and opportunity to improve her future situation. Receiving a game or toy that is just her own would also be a new experience for her and bring joy into her daily life.