Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1962-1963 — Page 24

estate. By the close of the year, plans were also well advanced to open a welfare centre at Chai Wan Estate to replace that at Shau Kei Wan; both these changes are in line with the changing population pattern and consequent demand for services. The two kitchens, one located at Happy Valley and the other at Hung Hom, are capable of producing many thousands of meals at short notice. Both had their cooking capacity expanded during the year, following the experience gained during typhoon 'Wanda', and can now jointly produce some 110,000 meals per day compared with the previous maximum of 65,000 meals per day.

61. The administration of the North Point Relief Camp was trans- ferred from the Relief Section to the Special Welfare Services Section during the year, as nearly all the inmates are handicapped persons who require more specialized forms of rehabilitation and training (See Paragraph 66).

62. While public assistance as such is a responsibility of the Depart- ment, a number of voluntary agencies provide supplementary feeding on a considerable scale. Chief among these agencies are Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, the Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere Inc., Lutheran World Service and the Seventh Day Adventist Welfare Service. These five agencies together distributed during the year some 36,000,000 pounds of surplus foodstuffs donated by the United States Government. Increasing amounts of these food- stuffs, mainly flour, powdered milk, rice and bulgar wheat are being channelled into providing milk and meals for school children. Children's Meals Incorporated established a centre at Hung Hom in November, 1962, to provide 10,000 meals a day for school children and there are plans to increase this to 20,000 meals a day; Caritas also operate a school meals programme for about 1,800 children in the Aberdeen area, while Lutheran World Service, Church World Service and C.A.R.E. maintain a total of some 50 milk distribution centres and 3 mobile canteens. This greater emphasis on improving the diet of school children, thus helping them to obtain fuller benefit from education, is a welcome development of the past year.

63. While the scale of public assistance fell, the demand for emergency relief rose to record heights during the year. Typhoon 'Wanda' on 1st September, 1962 accounted for 138 persons killed, 130 injured, 34 presumed dead or missing and some 72,000 in need of immediate relief in the form of food and shelter. When emergency pressures permitted more detailed investigation, a proportion of the

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