*********************************************************
As at 5pm today (May 27), the Social Welfare Department (SWD) had received 235 applications, and granted 206, for public subscription permits to raise funds for victims of the Sichuan earthquake in public places (please see annex).
A SWD spokesman said the department would process all applications as quickly as possible and issue permits to organisations that had satisfied the relevant requirements for public fund-raising activities.
Any organisation planning to hold activities involving donations in a public place for charitable purposes should apply for a public subscription permit from the SWD. The permit should be shown at prominent places for reference by the public.
If there is any suspicion regarding fund-raising activities, people are welcome to call the department's hotline at 2343 2255, or SWD headquarters at 2832 4311 for enquiries during office hours. If people suspect that the fund-raising activity may involve deception, they should report it to the Police for follow-up.
People can also browse the department's website at www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/site_whatsnew/ to check the latest list of organisations approved with a public subscription permit for public fund-raising.
Ends/Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:25
NNNN
