*********************************************************
The wife of the Chief Executive, Mrs Selina Tsang, today (December 1) called on families in Hong Kong to participate in voluntary service to help build a harmonious society.
Speaking at the Hong Kong Volunteer Award presentation ceremony 2007, Mrs Tsang, who is Volunteer-in-Chief, said, "Volunteer service is the key to building up a harmonious society. Participation as a family in volunteer service will not only enhance family harmony but help in building up a caring society.
"This year's voluntary movement will thus focus on families as its recruitment targets so as to realise the objective of 'Family volunteers serving the society together'."
In 2006, volunteers devoted more than 17 million hours of service to the community. Since 1998, nearly 700,000 registered volunteers and more than 1,700 registered organisations have committed to volunteering.
At the ceremony, the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Fisher, thanked members of the Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service for their efforts in promoting volunteer service. He also thanked various sectors for their staunch support in the past year.
Mr Fisher said he hoped Hong Kong citizens would continue to offer mutual help and display their caring spirit.
The annual award presentation was organised by the Social Welfare Department's Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service to recognise the contribution of volunteers and further promote the volunteer movement.
Awards were presented today to commend the outstanding contribution of various types of volunteers. In 2006, more than 55,000 volunteer certificates were issued to committed volunteers, including 63 volunteers who had served the community for more than 20 years. These volunteers were commended along with individual volunteers and volunteer organisations who received awards for the highest number of service hours. Please see annex for a list of awardees.
Also present at today's 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 Volunteering in Community Organisations, Mr Caecage Siu Chor-kee; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Student and Youth Volunteering, Mr Lee Kam-chung, and a member of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Corporate Volunteering, Miss Winnie Ng.
Ends/Saturday, December 1, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:05
NNNN