HONG KONG (SE): The Caritas Bazaar season for 2022, themed Give Them a Ray of Hope, kicked off on November 13 at St. Mary’s Canossian College and Wah Yan College in Kowloon. Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, sj, officiated at the opening ceremony at Wah Yan College.
Bishop Chow said that organising the charity bazaars, which had been suspended for several years due to social unrest in 2019 and the Covid-19 pandemic over the past two years, had been a challenge. He expressed delight and gratitude to see Catholic schools, parishes and Caritas service units working together again as a family.
There were more than 100 stalls in the two Kowloon locations out of a total of 408 across all six bazaar venues. In addition to the popular games stalls, there were also stalls sold value for money products.
Upcoming bazaars will be held at Si Yuan School of the Precious Blood, Tseun Wan, and Caritas Fanling Chan Chun Ha Secondary School, Fanling, on November 20; and St. Paul’s Convent School, Causeway Bay, and Caritas Chan Chun Ha Field Studies Centre [Lung Tsai Tsuen Campus], Cheung Chau, on November 27.
All visitors have been requested to follow the anti-Covid measures laid out by the government while the sale of cooked food and eating and drinking are prohibited.
Bishop Chow pointed out that the bazaars brought together the power of volunteers and strengths of benefactors to create a virtuous cycle of giving and receiving, as well as bringing forward the spirit of mutual help.
He expressed hope that all sectors of the community would continue to show their support and spread love and care to the disadvantaged, and enable them to live an enriched life.
In 2019, a mini bazaar format was adopted for safety reasons. This was carried though from 2020 to 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, over 150 Church organisations, along with parishes and Catholic schools responded to the fundraising appeal issued by Caritas and organised mini-bazaars in November [Sunday Examiner, 28 November 2021].
