Caritas Mid-Autumn Festival elderly visit: Spreading joy and companionship

As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team continued their efforts to bring love and warmth to the community. On 14 September 2024, some 200 enthusiastic CARE volunteers, along with their friends and family members, participated in the Caritas Mid-Autumn Festival Elderly Visit organised by the Caritas Cheng Shing Fung District Elderly Centre (Shamshuipo). The volunteers were divided into groups to visit elderly residents living alone or with a partner in the district. In addition to distributing goody bags, the volunteers chatted with the seniors, listened to their stories, and expressed care and support during this festive season of reunion.

Joining the visits to seniors living in tenement buildings included Dennis Hau, Executive Director of Customer Strategy, Insights and Innovation, Freely Cheng, Head of External Affairs of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, and Vivian Kong, the gold medallist in Fencing Women's Épée Individual at the Paris 2024 Olympics, who recently joined the Club as Assistant External Affairs Manager. This was Vivian's first time participating in a volunteer activity of CARE Team since joining the Club. She actively engaged with the elderly, sharing stories about the Olympics and showing them her gold medal, which brought great joy and surprise to the seniors.

In fact, what truly opened the hearts of the elderly was not the Olympic accolade or the goody bags, but the genuine care and compassion shown through household visits by the CARE volunteers. The seniors were especially grateful for the group of volunteers who climbed seven to eight flights of stairs to meet them. During the visits, the volunteers' sincere concern and patient listening made the elderly feel valued and cared for. Many seniors shared their life stories and reminisced about their younger days, appreciating the opportunity to connect with the community. The presence of the CARE volunteers ensured that the elderly felt the solidarity and support of the community during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The CARE Team will remain committed to spreading joy and companionship within the community during important festivals, sharing the power of care and connection.