Church of Shalom offers food assistance to the needy
Publish Date: 17-Nov-2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has been raging across the city for more than ten months and dealing blows to people’s livelihood and the economy. Church of Shalom, St James’ Settlement, and St Andrew’s Primary School joined hands to launch two large scale community food assistance services, “FOOD-CO Express” and “Jockey Club Food Assistance Programme”. “FOOD-CO Express” provides fresh food packets to the needy low-income families under financial stress because of the pandemic. “FOOD-CO Express Version 2.0”, which was introduced in September, recruited former beneficiaries as volunteers to distribute food packets as a move to put the spirit of mutual assistance into practice. Under the pandemic, many Hong Kong people are facing unemployment or underemployment. Workers, who are not qualified for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, are more stressful to have their needs met. The “Jockey Club Food Assistance Programme” provides timely relief to these people. Staff at Church of Shalom visit families in need while teachers of St Andrew’s Primary School actively inquire about their students’ living conditions during school suspension. Staff and teachers took the initiative to refer families in need to apply for assistance from the Jockey Club programme. In the past eight months, Church of Shalom provided assistances to 250 families and distributed forty thousand masks and anti-septic products, $600,000-worth of fast food and supermarket coupons, and over a hundred tons of fresh and tin food. Over three thousand people benefited from the two schemes. Church of Shalom will hold a thanksgiving service on 28 November to celebrate its elevation to parish status. The Revd Jonathan Chee, priest-in-charge of Church of Shalom hopes that being a parish church, it will continue to deepen the Anglican faith through living with the people in the parish and taking part in the parishioners’ lives to witness Christ’s blessing. He said, “We don’t just talk about Jesus and we put his teachings into practice.” 
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