Hong Kong restaurants join Donate-a-Meal charity campaign

Make a small, HK$15 contribution to your restaurant bill to help out (picture courtesy Unsplash).

Hong Kong restaurants are joining forces throughout November to join the Donate-a-Meal campaign and raise money for three local charities.

Funds raised by the campaign will be evenly shared between Feeding Hong Kong, Christian Action and ImpactHK, all of whom are providing emergency food for the most vulnerable families in Hong Kong who are suffering as a result of the pandemic.

Participating restaurants will be inviting diners to add a small, HK$15 donation to their bill from from November 1. Twenty-six restaurants have so far joined the campaign - popular dining spaces throughout Hong Kong include Bedu, Cafe 8, Confusion Plant Based Kitchen, Enoteca, Locofama, Mamma Always Said, Momentai, Ovolo restaurants, Treehouse, Uma Nota, Singaling’s, The Picture House and The Conservatory.

“From November, we can all dine to make a difference and propel a fundraising campaign which will provide food, shelter and support people suffering with loss of income and jobs,” said Donate-a-Meal campaign creator Kristine Nudds. “Charities at the frontline are seeing demand increase two to three times, so every small contribution helps. Dine at our brilliant participating restaurants regularly, be sure to add your voluntary donation and we can all help to touch the lives of our neighbours.”

Charities report soaring numbers of Hong Kongers needing financial support due to the pandemic and subsequent job losses. Christian Action has now opened an emergency food station in Yau Tsim Mong, an area renowned for subdivided flats and deprived groups.

“We are committed to serving at least 1,000 vulnerable individuals in the Yau Tsim Mong area with free meals and basic food,” said Cheung-Ang Siew Mei, executive director at Christian Action. “The support from Donate-a-Meal will help to achieve our goal of providing a lifeline to the vulnerable.”

“We have seen an alarming number of new individuals living homeless in Hong Kong,” said Jeff Rotmeyer, founder of ImpactHK, a charity that provides food and shelter. “We have more than 150 individuals in shelter right now for whom we provide holistic support. The funds raised through the Donate-a-Meal campaign will help us to continue serving around 12,000 meals a month.”

And according to food bank Feeding Hong Kong, for every HK$5 donation it can support one meal for a person in need.

Go to donate-a-meal.org for a full list of participating restaurants.