Non-governmental organization, Caritas Macau, is calling for further donations from the public as its food bank recipients have doubled since the start of the pandemic, mostly affecting the non-resident workers.
In normal times, when non-resident workers had work, they did not come to ask for help from Caritas Macau’s food bank facilities, the organization’s Secretary-General, Paul Pun, has told the Times.
A charity organization providing help in the city since the 1950s, Caritas Macau has operated its Short-term Food Subsidy Service for more than nine years. The service is similar to a food bank, where people in need can apply for direct support in the form of food supplies.
Caritas is operating four food banks across the city.
On November 1, the Caritas Macau head wrote on his social media account, “We received an urgent request from a lady for some rice to help her countryfolk who cannot afford a meal since they have been unemployed for a while.”
The Caritas Macau head was talking about migrant workers stranded in Macau, but he stressed that not only more non-resident workers, but also more people from other walks of life living in Macau need help during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people saw their employment and income impacted by the pandemic.
“Because they’re stranded here, they need help from the city,” Pun said, talking about the non-resident workers who were dismissed by their employers, but could not return to their home countries due to stricter border restrictions or the absence of flights.
“Normally they don’t need help from us,” Pun stressed.
It has become difficult to define this group of people. Pun noted that due to their dismissals, their non-resident worker IDs, colloquially known as blue cards, have been terminated. However, the Macau government has been extending their permits to remain since stricter border controls came into place around the world. Technically speaking, these non-resident workers now hold a status similar to regular tourists.
The Caritas Macau food bank serves three objectives, respectively addressing the short, medium and long term. For instance, its short-term mission is to provide immediate food support to needy individuals to ease their hunger.
The charity organization hopes to increase awareness of poverty in the city and address the problem together.
The supply process for the food bank is similar to government procurement processes. Caritas Macau opens different tenders for different types of foods. Companies winning the tender handle the concerned types of foods.
Money for the procurement, meanwhile, comes from the government as an investment in social welfare. This support only covers local residents.
As for non-residents, mainly non-resident workers, Pun said that they would not be covered by the mainstream channel. However, there are other means to help them.
The majority of help provided by the food bank to needy migrant workers is sponsored or donated by the private sector and even individual residents.
For example, right after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Pun called on his social media page for the public to donate excess unconsumed mooncakes to the food bank, so that the organization could share them with the less advantaged.
“Through this channel we can help share the care to different people,” Pun said. In the same social media post, he disclosed that his team was able to help a pregnant stranded non-resident worker to receive a prenatal medical check.
Hosting of Charity
Bazaar ‘Challenging’
Caritas Macau will host its annual charity bazaar this weekend. This year, amid the Covid-19 precautionary measures, the charity organization has received a green light from the government to host this year’s event along the coast of Nam Van from the Nautical Center to the Anim’Arte.
The bazaar is a major source of donations to Caritas Macau.
When asked about the progress of preparations for the annual event, Pun disclosed that it was challenging, because a lot of factors have had to be taken into account. “But our colleagues and volunteers are trying their best to make it happen,” he said, “with endurance and diligence.”
The pandemic has forced the organization to shrink the scale of the bazaar in terms of participating entities.
Despite admitting that donations generated from the event will decrease, Pun declined to make an estimate as to how much the decrease will be. “After all, we’ll just try our best,” he said.
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