Christmas comes early for children in need as Hong Kong’s SoCO hands out presents, but NGO says it’s struggling to hit year’s fundraising target

Andy Wong, a 12-year-old aspiring car designer, received an early Christmas present from the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) - a remote-control car, a luxury his family couldn't afford.

Andy was among the 3,360 underprivileged children who sent their Christmas wishes to SoCO. Over the past two decades, SoCO has distributed over 40,000 festive gifts. However, the organisation is currently facing a financial shortfall. They are HK$300,000 short of their HK$750,000 fundraising target for this year.

Sze Lai-shan, SoCO's deputy director, explained that many companies, still reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, have reduced or withdrawn their annual contributions. This has made fundraising increasingly challenging. Sze also highlighted the growing issue of child poverty in Hong Kong. Citing 2017 statistics, she estimated that there were about 250,000 underprivileged children in the city, a number she believes has significantly increased due to rising unemployment and inflation, exacerbated by the pandemic. SoCO reported that over 50,000 impoverished children live in substandard conditions, including cage homes and subdivided flats, with many resorting to scavenging for recyclables after school to supplement their family's income.