HONG KONG (SE): In July, the Centre for Catholic Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong released the results a survey conducted on the free meal gatherings offered to grassroots people by parishes in Hong Kong. The centre invited parishes to look into their roles in the charity work of the local community and the possibility of soliciting more support for such gatherings from other Church organisations.
A number of parishes in Hong Kong organised free meal gatherings for the grassroots to help them develop networks and offer them regular support. The programmes were cancelled in light of the of Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, but some parishes are still giving away free lunch boxes as well as other virus prevention materials to their local communities.
Questionnaires were sent to 52 parishes and replies were received from 32 while interviews were conducted with certain parishes for case studies.
In the first half of last year, 10 parishes said they regularly organised free meal gatherings, while 11 said they held them only from time to time. Sixty-seven percent of these parishes said the biggest organisational difficulty was recruiting volunteers and managing them.
The parishes also pointed out in interviews that the gatherings could expand social networks, show the love of God and evangelise in a subtle way.
Parishes which never organised such gatherings or did not organise any in the last year said it was because they lacked the space, facilities or manpower and that there were other groups organising similar programmes already. Twenty per cent of them said people living in the local community did not need the service so they had no plans to organise any.
In the case study of Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Kennedy Town, those interviewed said they at first worried about arranging for right amount of food, but after considering the need for the grassroots to make friends, they decided to recruit volunteers to host gatherings. Participants were mostly elderly people living alone in Western District whom parishioners visited regularly.
The research suggested that parishes planning to strengthen such services could consider making the organising team a regular group composed of members of the social concern group as well as other related communities. The group could also invite the support of schools and other organisations.
Anselm Lam Wing-kwan, supervisor of the Centre for Catholic Studies, said in the conclusion of the report that the affluence in Hong Kong is only superficial and there are many people living in poverty. The free meal gatherings in parishes not only show a concern about daily necessities of the poor, but also their spiritual well-being and their need to develop a support network.
