OXFAM will hold its annual fundraising event, “Oxfam Rice”, across Macau this weekend, aiming to raise 700,000 patacas, the organisation announced at a kick-off ceremony yesterday.
Themed “Fight Climate Change, Empower Smallholder Farmers”, OXFAM, a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organisations (NGOs), said it hoped the charity sale of “Oxfam Rice” and related products will attract public attention and raise donations to empower smallholder farmers to prepare for disasters and adapt to climate change.
Oxfam Hong Kong’s Director of Fundraising and Communications Michael Wong Ho-ming said in a speech during yesterday’s ceremony at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre that “Oxfam has always been concerned about the livelihoods of smallholder farmers around the world, and is committed to working with them to cope with extreme weather and minimise the impact of climate change on their livelihoods. For example, we have been working on smallholder development projects in mainland China and other developing countries in Asia and East Africa. In our Nepal project, we are helping smallholder farmers learn various farming techniques to tackle drought, so that they can maintain their yields and protect their incomes in drought conditions”.
According to Oxfam, 330 million people around the world face severe food insecurity, most of them smallholder farmers, fisherfolk, herders and landless peasants who produce food.
This year marks the “Oxfam Rice” campaign’s 13 anniversary, and Wong told the Post after the ceremony that the amount raised in Macau each year stood around or over 700,000 patacas, expressing his gratitude to Macau residents: “Macau is important for us because the people of Macau are more enthusiastic and they are very concerned about the situation of the poor……besides the “Oxfam Rice” campaign, they have joined also the “Oxfam TowerRun”, among other Oxfam’s fundraising campaigns”.
The “Oxfam Rice” booths will be operating from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, located at Bank of China (BOC) Macau Branch – Hung Kai Sih (“Red Market” – 紅街市) sub-branch on Avenida Horta e Costa; BOC Weng Neng Kuong Cheong (永寧廣場) sub-branch on Rua da Tribuna; BOC Villa de Mer (海天居中心) sub-branch on Rua Central da Areia Preta; and BOC Nova Grand sub-branch (濠尚支行) on Avenida de Kwong Tung in Taipa, as well as at Pui Ching Middle School on Avenida de Horta e Costa, at the Women’s General Association of Macau on Rua do Campo, BCMbank’s main branch on Avenida da Praia Grande, and BCMbank’s Prince Flower City branch on Rua de Évora in Taipa.
Oxfam Hong Kong’s Fundraising and Communications Director Michael Wong Ho-ming delivers a speech during yesterday’s kick-off ceremony about this weekend’s “Oxfam Rice” donation drive, at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre in Nam Van. – Photos: Yuki Lei
The model of an “Oxfam Rice” donation booth is displayed during yesterday’s kick-ceremony.
