Caritas Macau Charity Run to be held on October 7

Paul Pun (center)

The Caritas Macau Charity Run of will be held on October 7, with hopes of attracting 3,000 participants to this year’s event, organizers announced yesterday at a press conference.

The event is jointly organized by Caritas Macau and the University of Macau (UM). Caritas Macau Secretary General Paul Pun noted that this is the first time the association has worked with UM to organize the event, with the event in its third year.

The running will begin on the UM campus at 7.30 a.m., on Sunday.  In total, four running categories will be available – Open Group, Family Group, Inclusive Group, Walking Group, with another category for people to finish their run at other places.

The entry fee for each individual is MOP160. Caritas Macau also encourages participants to invite their friends and family to donate to Caritas Macau.

“Caritas Macau has plans to build one residential elderly care home. When the new facility is open, we will put the names [of donors] on the wall of the care home,” said Pun.

According to Pun, it is uncertain when the facility will open. 

“We are not sure about the new center’s opening, but we are confident that we can open a new and small care home. It will not be like those big ones which can host up to 200 or 300 people,” said Pun.

According to Pun, the home will be located in the Macau Peninsula, with an area of 7,000 square feet.

“We cannot reveal [more details] about the place [at the current stage.] The fundraising should start now, [because] if it starts later, the construction of the care home will be delayed,” said Pun.

As Pun explained, currently, there is only one draft plan regarding the care home’s site.

Other details, such as the senior citizens’ arrangements, are still under discussion, as many of the senior citizens have different demands regarding their private spaces.

“When we designed it about six or seven years ago, we [planned] to host 100 people. Now, we probably don’t want to make it that big. We hope that senior citizens can have a peaceful space, therefore the care home will be smaller,” said Pun, who hopes that the charity run will raise around MOP500,000.

Pun remarked that an elderly care home cannot be constructed with a budget of MOP100 million.

“Caritas Macau has been operating for so many years in Macau, but it does not have its own facilities. I believe that the government is willing to give money [to Caritas Macau], but it’s better if we can raise the funds by ourselves,” asserted Pun.