Nine day food drive yields 1,180kg of much needed food for distribution to those in need by Feeding Hong Kong.
The Valley family flung themselves at the inaugural Valley Festive Food Drive in association with Feeding Hong Kong and sponsor bar, the Happy Valley Bar and Grill in a bid to help put food on the table this Christmas for those in need.
A whopping 1,180 kilograms of food was kindly donated across the drive which lasted from 12th to 20th December. According to Feeding HK, this is enough to support 2,811 meals.
Across the 9 days, a consistent stream of food donations streamed in to the collection point at the Bar and Grill. Club members and random members of the public alike turned up in droves to help bring Christmas cheer, including a payload of 27 boxes was dropped off by sponsor Mayer Brown whose staff had busily collected donations in the office all week.
Some of the industrious Valley Fort Youth rugby members operated pop-up collection points around the south side of Hong Kong island which added to the daily volume being delivered to the FHK warehouses for onwards distribution.
Day after day, the collection points were manned and womaned throughout the day by enthusiastic members of the netball, hockey, rugby sections of the Valley RFC and Valley Fort RFC clubs in a highly coordinated effort.
Volunteering is thirsty work, so it was great seeing the masked and distanced crews taking on rehydration throughout the period and supporting our sponsor bar, the Happy Valley Bar and Grill and sipping cold pints of Kozel, our sponsor beer.
“This is an amazing effort”, beamed Feeding Hong Kong coordinator, Joyce Cheng. “We are so grateful for the efforts and generosity of the Valley community. This very large volume will go a long way and we will make sure it gets distributed where it is needed most”.
This was the third collaboration with Feeding Hong Kong during 2020, following a food drive in March and the Everest Challenge in June, where $125,000 was raised and, hopefully, a good deal of awareness of the plight of those living below the poverty line in Hong Kong.
Valley RFC Chief Operations Officer, Grant Beuzeval, was also delighted with the campaign. “This team effort by our members and those of Valley Fort, remind us of the extended role that we can and should play in our communities and neighbourhoods. Four times in this wretched year, where sport has spluttered, we have dug deep and are proud to have made a significant difference to those communities supported by the great work of Feeding Hong Kong and Harmony House.”
Full the full photo gallery please go to https://www.valleyrfc.com/photos/valley-festive-food-drive-2020-966760.html
A massive thank you to;
- All members, non-members, sponsors and members of the public that that dropped off food
- All members of the Valley that manned the collection point and encouraged teammates to bring food
- The Valley Social Committee for their drive and support
- The staff of the Happy Valley Bar and Grill who helped store uncollected food overnight
- Feeding Hong Kong for the logistics support and encouragement and for all their valuable work in Hong Kong
About Feeding Hong Kong
Feeding Hong Kong collects surplus stock from food companies, sort and store it, and redistribute it to multiple charities across the city. This approach allows them to make efficient use of the established distribution channels, and serve a broad and diverse group of people.
FHK are Hong Kong’s sole accredited member of the Global FoodBanking Network (GFN), an international organisation dedicated to creating and strengthening food banks around the world. This makes us a part of a global movement working to feed people and not landfills.
To learn more, to volunteer or donate food or money, please visit their website at https://feedinghk.org/