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The wife of the Chief Executive and Volunteer-in-Chief, Mrs Selina Tsang, said today (December 4) that Hong Kong had a long history of volunteer services with wide coverage and in-depth penetration, and there were encouraging signs that many young people had joined the movement in recent years.
Speaking at the 2010 Hong Kong Volunteer Award presentation ceremony, Mrs Tsang said that the volunteer movement was widely supported by the community and volunteer teams from various age groups and sectors. The services had also gone beyond the boundaries of Hong Kong.
"Our volunteers not only provided services at the Beijing Olympic Games and Shanghai Expo, but also reached out and rendered assistance to the poor living in the mountainous areas on the Mainland," she said.
Mrs Tsang paid tribute to the late volunteers Mr Wong Fuk-wing and Mr Tsang Man-kit for their public-spirited and selfless contributions towards others.
Speaking on the same occasion, the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Patrick Nip, said that volunteer services had laid a solid foundation for a loving and inclusive community by pushing forward understanding, care and mutual help among people from all walks of life.
"In 2011, the Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service will adopt 'Volunteering - New Attitude to Life' as the main theme of the volunteer movement and develop the spirit of volunteer work so as to make it part of our life," Mr Nip said.
The annual award presentation was organised by the Social Welfare Department's Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service to give recognition to the contribution of volunteers and further promote the volunteer movement.
Today, awards were presented to commend various types of volunteers for their outstanding contribution in 2009. More than 72,000 volunteer certificates were issued to committed volunteers, including 72 volunteers who had served the community for over 20 years and 199 families who had formed family volunteer teams. Also commended were individual volunteers, family volunteer teams and volunteer organisations that had offered the highest number of service hours. Please see annex for a list of awardees (Chinese only).
Also present at the ceremony were the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion and Publicity of Volunteer Service, Mr Michael Wong; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Corporate Volunteering, Mr Herman Hui; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Volunteering in Community Organisations, Mr Caecage Siu; and the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Student and Youth Volunteering, Mr Lee Kam-chung.
Since promotion of volunteer service by the department in 1998, more than 920,000 registered volunteers and more than 2,110 registered organisations have committed to volunteer service. In 2009, registered volunteers devoted more than 21 million hours of service to the community.
Ends/Saturday, December 4, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:00
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