Closing Ceremony of Operation Santa Claus 2009

Operation Santa Claus is an annual charity campaign jointly organized by South China Morning Post and Radio Television Hong Kong. The campaign seeks to raise funds and awareness for Hong Kong charities over the winter holiday season.

From a modest beginning in 1988, when HK$101,000 was raised, Operation Santa Claus has collected over HK$129 million in cash, goods and services for over 90 Hong Kong charities over the years.

All Operation Santa Claus campaigns are heavily community-focused. All through December, corporations, clubs, schools and individual donors organize a series of highly creative initiatives aimed at raising funds for each year's specially chosen good causes.

This year, because of the downturn, it is more important than ever that we all reach out to help others and give whatever we can.

Despite earlier dire predictions, Operation Santa Claus (OSC) 2009 has proved to be a remarkable show of warmth and concern for those in need. We raised HK$11,302,067 for 13 beneficiaries through donations and charity events in the past two months. Hats off to those who made it happen! A closing ceremony was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel Hong Kong to announce the figure and to thank supporters.

Financial Secretary John TSANG, Director of Broadcasting Franklin WONG and SCMP Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Hui KUOK were invited to reveal the final figure step by step through flipping numbers into place on a giant cheque. The Financial Secretary took the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech on corporate social responsibility. Attending guests include representatives of the corporate donors and beneficiaries.

Starting from mid-November, community and donor events inspired hundreds of individuals . Exciting events included squash, football and golf tournaments, and many other initiatives proposed by individuals and corporations. A Chinese family made an anonymous HK$1 million donation. Over the past years, OSC has secured support from corporations like Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Morgan Stanley is our top donor this year with HK$1.9 million raised. Schools participation was also very encouraging, with 27 schools raising almost HK$400,000.

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Entertainment

Tags:

• Franklin Wong
• 黃華麒
• RTHK
• John Tsang
• 曾俊華
• Operation Santa Claus