May ‧ We CARE: Unite for Community Well-being during CARE@hkjc Volunteer Month

From 1 to 31 May 2025, the CARE@hkjc Volunteer Team launched the Volunteer Month, named “May ‧ We CARE”, to inspire volunteering and promote community engagement in cultivating a culture of giving back for societal betterment. Through presenting 65 volunteer services, over 3,100 hours of service were collectively achieved, with some 130 new members recruited. The strong team spirit of May ‧ We CARE has impressively enriched this May.

Under “May ‧ We CARE”, participants were welcomed to collaborate both within and across departments for group volunteering. Over 50 teams comprising about 550 staff from different departments, together with some 500 individual volunteers from the Club, joined beyond 60 services during the month. The efforts spanned sports, child and youth engagement, animal welfare, support for the underprivileged and elderly, and environmental protection.

To further encourage volunteerism, the CARE Team introduced the Get-to-Know-CARE online game, inviting six-member teams to learn about the CARE Team and its community services. This fostered collaboration for preparing group volunteering and embracing the joy of helping others.

The “May ‧ We CARE” initiative featured diverse volunteer activities addressing various community needs. For sports-related services, the “Teen Teen New Sports Carnival” provided unique experiences for students, including those with special educational needs (SEN), and their families, promoting parent-child bonding and social skills. CARE volunteers played key roles in guiding the teens to be helpers in carnival activities and encouraging a spirit of giving back. Additionally, CARE volunteers accompanied ethnic minority students and athletes with physical disabilities on a visit to the Tuen Mun Public Riding School, fostering inclusion through introducing equestrian sports with experiences.

For SEN children, the “Day Camp for SEN Families” employed multi-sensory activities to enhance children’s learning motivation, with CARE volunteers acting as ambassadors to create warm family moments. In the “Books for Love 2025 Charity Sale”, over 10,000 second-hand books were resold, promoting literacy and spreading knowledge among children and youth.

Animal welfare was another focus of the “May ‧ We CARE” initiative. CARE volunteers participated in the “Paw-fect Cattery”, caring for stray cats through cleaning and feeding. The “Jockey Club Woof Woof Walk” and “Herppy Chill” enabled CARE volunteers to walk homeless dogs and rescued amphibians & reptiles that are awaiting adoption, enhancing their well-being and increasing their chances of finding loving homes. CARE volunteers also joined two adoption days to assist with adoption logistics and procedures, introducing the dogs and explaining adoption details to potential owners proactively, for promoting dog adoption. One of the adoption days was held in The LOHAS Shop of The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), which is the first pet-friendly experience shop of HKJC in Hong Kong.

To support disadvantaged groups, the CARE Team extended various skill-oriented services. CARE volunteers took on the role of “Toy Reborn Engineers” to sort, repair and clean donated toys from staff  for children in need, promoting recycling and sustainability. In the “Twist 'n' Shape Balloon Twisting Workshop” hosted by senior members of the CARE Balloon Twisting Team, CARE volunteers learnt balloon art and shared their creations at a carnival to spread joy. Over 60 CARE volunteers joined the service of “Food Angel Hot Meals Preparation”, from processing recycled ingredients to packing meal boxes, bringing hot meals to the people in need.

With continuous efforts on elderly care, CARE volunteers crafted more than 700 Dragon Boat Festival cards with creative artwork and heartfelt messages for the elderly, and made over 800 herbal massage hammers for aiding the elderly’s relaxation. More than 160 CARE volunteers delivered festive rice dumplings with the hand-crafted cards and hand-made herbal massage hammers during the “Dragon Boat Festival Elderly Visit”, celebrating the festival with solitary elderly individuals in Sham Shui Po. The Club’s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges also joined a group of CARE volunteers to prepare personalised festive cards for the elderly on 22 May. Besides, CARE volunteers in the “Soft Meal with Love Programme 2025” helped promote soft meal diets to enhance dining experiences and health for the elderly.

On environmental protection, CARE volunteers of the “Blossoms & Butterflies – Fung Yung Planting Day” planted in the Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve located in Tai Po to boost biodiversity, contributing to sustainable ecosystems.

Thanks to the unwavering support of our staff and volunteers, the “May ‧ We CARE” initiative embodied compassion and community spirit, uniting volunteers to make a resonated impact. The CARE Team is committed to continuing these diverse initiatives, encouraging more staff to join in contributing to community well-being enhancement.