World Service, and the Salvation Army are among the most active in distributing cash grants, blankets, used clothing, food parcels and cook- ing utensils.
CHAPTER IX
OFFICIAL AND VOLUNTARY CO-OPERATION
78. The field of constructive welfare work provides striking examples of the characteristic Hong Kong mould-official and voluntary enter- prise striving to face a challenge and to supply a want, jointly and to- gether, through consultation and agreement. If there is proper co-ordina- tion, such a pattern for progress may offer scope for the most sound and rapid results. The initiative in providing welfare services was first taken by voluntary organizations, and there are many agencies that can point with pride to long and devoted service to those in need. The Government did not find it necessary to set up a Social Welfare Office until 1948 and, as recorded in Chapter I above, it was not until 1958 that a separate Social Welfare Department came into being. Hong Kong is fortunate in always having had a large number of Chinese organizations which contribute generously in work and money to many forms of social service. It has been equally fortunate in the numbers of local and international religious and welfare organizations, many of which have been named in the earlier chapters of the report, which have contributed to its welfare needs through gifts of money, goods and services. The Social Welfare Department once again most warmly acknowledges all these various contributions, without which the welfare services available to the com- munity would be severely restricted. It is generally accepted that effective social welfare services covering all pressing needs can only be achieved through the combined efforts of Government and voluntary organiza- tions, both having the same goals and a mutual understanding of how best the common good can be met. The Government's policy is to ensure that the basic social welfare services are made available to those persons who are found, on inquiry by trained and skilled social workers, to be in need by reason of circumstances which they cannot be expected to control. A continued voluntary effort is essential in a free community, not only if citizens are to develop and maintain a sense of responsibility for the communal well-being, but also if the social services are to rise above a minimum acceptable level for a civilized society.
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