Hello! This is Thomas Sie from Hong Kong Branch.

As a cosmopolitan region with high economic prosperity, hunger problem in Hong Kong is often overlooked. While more than one million people live in poverty struggling to afford nutritious meals, however, around 3,600 tons of food waste are sent to landfills in Hong Kong every day.

To dedicate and commit to our corporate social responsibility, Social Value Committee of Hong Kong Branch organized a “Food Donation Week” activity in September 2021, being the first overseas branch of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to arrange a food donation drive. Our aims are to promote the spirit of sharing among all branch members, and to make contribution to the 2^nd goal of SDGs, “Zero Hunger”!

We partnered with St. James’ Settlement, a multi social service agency, which provides comprehensive services to enable individuals to help themselves and to help others, and to build an integrated and harmonious community.

We took part into a program “FOOD-CO”, the first IT platform run by St. James Settlement to provide food support service. It is a platform to connect food support service operators, food donors and supporting organizations and volunteers with advancement in technology and data analysis to enhance the effectiveness of food support services in Hong Kong. It was awarded by Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) in June 2016.

“Food Donation Week” was run on the week of 13^th September 2021, and we collected a total of 110 items of dry food (approximately 25.4KG) from Hong Kong branch members. The food items included rice, noodles, pasta, biscuits, canned food, cereals, snacks, mooncakes etc.

On 20^th September 2021, we delivered all the donated food items to the headquarters of St James’ Settlement in Wan Chai. A big thank you to everyone who participated in this event! “Food Donation Week” is a great chance for us to cultivate a “save and care” culture, along with a goal to reduce food waste an create a more sustainable living environment for everyone.