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The wife of the Chief Executive and Volunteer-in-Chief, Mrs Regina Leung, said today (December 15) that the Volunteer Movement has been widely echoed by all walks of life. With increased diversity and creativity, the Movement has attracted support from more and more people and groups, instilling the spirit of volunteerism into people's daily life and creating a local culture of volunteerism.
Speaking at the 2012 Hong Kong Volunteer Award Presentation Ceremony, Mrs Leung said, "Since the launch of the Volunteer Movement in 1998, the number of registered volunteers in Hong Kong has exceeded 1 million this year. This is testimony to Hong Kong people's passion in helping the needy and their devotion to building up a caring society."
She hoped that all volunteers will uphold the spirit of "Volunteering - New Attitude to Life", which is the theme of the Volunteer Movement, continuing to offer help to the needy at all times and sharing the happiness of give and take, as well as enjoying a fruitful life.
Speaking at the same occasion, the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Patrick Nip, said that looking ahead to 2013, the Volunteer Movement will strive to enhance the quality and depth of volunteer service with a view to integrating volunteerism into people's daily lives more and serving the needs of the society and the world.
Mr Nip thanked the Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service, its four Sub-committees on Promotion, 11 District Co-ordinating Committees, District Social Welfare Officers and all Committee Members for their commitment and active participation in giving invaluable suggestions when mapping out the direction and strategy of the Volunteer Movement, such that volunteerism has been moving ahead with depth and diversity.
Mr Nip noted that, in this year, there are volunteers and groups making use of the Internet to connect with friends who have the same passion to promote volunteerism. There are also many small stores that are silently offering assistance to the needy or selling their goods at cost price.
In addition, various large corporations and small and medium enterprises have been making use of innovative volunteering service, their organisational resources and expertise to serve different needy groups. As for the district level, many residents' organisations have been running volunteering projects with diversity and creativity. Those which are closely related to daily life and with environmental protection elements are increasingly popular.
Today's ceremony, organised by the Social Welfare Department's Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service, aims to pay tribute to the volunteers for their contribution and to further promote voluntary services to the community.
Awards were presented to volunteers from various sectors for their outstanding contributions in 2011. The awardees included 87 volunteers who had served the community for more than 20 years and volunteer organisations of public and private groups with the provision of the highest number of service hours. Please see the Annex for a list of awardees (Chinese only).
Today, the organiser launched a new book which recorded a total of 22 real-life stories of volunteer service. These stories had been chosen by the organiser so that the outstanding real-life experiences could inspire members of the public to instil the spirit of volunteering into their daily life and encourage more people to join this big family.
Also officiating at today's ceremony were the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion and Publicity of Volunteer Service, Mr Lai Chi-tong; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Corporate Volunteering, Mr Kwan Chuk-fai; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Volunteering in Community Organisations, Mr Quentin Fong; and the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Student and Youth Volunteering, Ms Theresa Tao.
Since the promotion of the Volunteer Movement by the Social Welfare Department in 1998, more than 1 million registered volunteers and more than 2,385 Volunteer Movement Participating Organisations have committed to volunteer service. In 2011, registered volunteers devoted more than 22.4 million hours of service to the community.
Ends/Saturday, December 15, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:31
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