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Saturday, December 25, 1972
7,500 TAKE PART IN SWD CHRISTMAS PARTIES
Theme Of "Service" Stressed In Activities This Year
More than 7,500 residents are having a brighter Christmas this year
as a result of the efforts of 900 volunteers working through the Group and
Community Work Division of the Social Welfare Department.
Guests at a continuous round of Yuletide activities, now near the
half-way mark, include 6,500 children and 1,000 elderly.
Emphasis this year is being placed on the theme of "service through
all young people are determined to
a good turn," and the volunteers
implement the theme as far as possible.
The idea of doing 'a good turn' at Christmas," says Mr. Stephen Lew
Chi-kin, Senior Principal Social Welfare Officer and head of the Group and
Community Work Division, "came from the young members of our community, social
and youth centres, our district community work offices, and other units.
"These young people have come to understand the value of service to
others as contributing not only to better community relations, but also to
their own comfort and pleasure."
For this reason, the activities this year, apart from Christmas parties,
include visits to homes for the aged, receptions for the handicapped in
institutions and hospitals, fun fairs, picnics and rural visits, and rallies
centring on the extra theme of a clean Hong Kong.
More than 100 items make up the list, more than half requiring devoted
effort on the part of the volunteers.
LE