May 2015 - Hope of the City Newsletter
Hope of the City’s volunteers were kept hopping over the past two months, teaming up with 10 local organizations for 14 events. From a youth Gospel Camp in Sai Kung to a Career Day for secondary students at Bank of America to a Mother’s Day charity walkathon at the Peak, these events brought opportunities for learning and meaningful engagement to low-income families, kids, teenagers, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Highlights included an English Day Camp on April 4, when volunteers from Island ECC's Youth Ministry team invited 17 Sham Shui Po youth out for a day of crazy fun - with the chance to play Giant Bubble Soccer - at Lei Yue Mun Park & Holiday Village in Chai Wan. This was the first English-speaking camp these local kids had ever participated in. Other memorable events were a Light Painting Photo Workshop at The Hub in Sham Shui Po on April 26 – how cool is that? – and an afternoon of games and laughter at IDEAL’s birthday party for people with intellectual challenges on April 25. We just can’t thank our volunteers enough for their ever-enthusiastic support!
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St. Barnabas Society Children's Cooking Program
On April 12, Hope of the City recruited nine volunteers from Island ECC to help teach a children’s cooking class as the final event in the St. Barnabas Society’s Easter Program, which ran from April 8-12. Twenty-four mini-cooks were paired up with adult volunteers (including some professional chefs) in three teams, for a 1-hour session of baking and decorating Fruit Pizzas. At the end of the day, the children happily shared their unique creations with their families as part of the finale dinner. Yum!
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Discovering U Gospel Camp
Hope of the City sponsored 150 students from low-income families to join the Discovering U Gospel Camp from April 17-18. Organized by United Christian College, this camp provided an excellent opportunity for these young people to explore their uniqueness and recognize their strengths. A key part of the camp was a Talent Show, requiring students to work together to develop a group performance in something they had never done before – a dance routine, magic show, skipping demonstration, cartoon dubbing, martial arts, paper cutting etc. - in just 1 hour! A gifted Hope volunteer, Kathy, also joined the camp to help train one of the groups in a new talent.
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Door-to-Door Outreach in North Point
On May 7, Hope of the City volunteers teamed up with social workers for an evening of door-to-door outreach in North Point. The teams knocked on doors to let residents know about the Family Fun Day on May 9, put on by the North Point Family Welfare Center, and to inform them of the variety of services available to them through the center.
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Farm Outing for North Point Families
Neither wind nor rain nor gloomy skies could keep Hope of the City’s volunteers from accompanying North Point SEN children and their families out to the Our Hands Farm in the New Territories for a brief escape from the city on April 11. Along with a group of elderly from our monthly home visit program, they spent the day learning basic farming techniques like planting tomatoes. They also learned how to make mosquito repellent from tea tree oil. Before leaving the countryside, they took a turn in the farm kitchen, making veggie dumplings and rolled sesame desserts. Who says you can’t have a great time in the rain?
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YWCA Family Outing
Megabox was the scene of a mega-fun playdate on May 9 for our Sham Shui Po home visit volunteers and the families they visit each month. The giant Playhouse indoor playground provided hours of excitement, with its trampoline, high slides, ball room, putting green, princess room and car racing zone. Then it was just a hop and a skip over to IKEA for lunch, a special experience in itself for these kids as they seldom get such family outings.
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Story Time with Reading Buddies
In partnership with Kids4Kids, Hope of the City sent six volunteers from Island ECC to read storybooks to children in Kowloon City as part of this NGO’s Reading Buddy program. Each volunteer undergoes a 2-hour training session before participating in the program. During the actual reading session, the volunteers not only read to the children but also help lead ice-breaking games and activities to stimulate the children’s reading abilities. If you want to be involved in future Reading Buddy events, click here.
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