In response to severe damage caused by the deadly Typhoon Hato, Sands China Ltd. bolstered its efforts to reach out to the community, applying its skills and resources to help the recovery of several organizations across different sectors.
The company has made a pledge to donate a total of MOP30 million in disaster relief funds to Macau in the wake of the destructive 2017 storm season. In addition, the Adelson Family Foundation has pledged MOP35 million, making a total of MOP65 million in donations pledged by Sands China and the Adelson Family Foundation to support typhoon disaster relief in Macau.
University of Saint Joseph
The Adelson Family Foundation has donated over MOP15.2 million to the University of Saint Joseph to assist in recovery efforts after both Typhoon Hato and subsequent storms caused significant damage to its brand-new campus in August and September.
The timing of Typhoon Hato – in August 2017, just before the start of the new academic term – was unfortunate for the university, which had only taken possession of its long-awaited new Ilha Verde campus in June.
The basement level of the university’s new campus was flooded after the storm, submerging nearly all the installed and stored equipment under 3 metres of water. Five days were required to pump the basement dry.
In a site visit, shortly afterwards, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Sands China Ltd. executives toured the damaged areas that will now be restored with the help of the Adelson Family Foundation donation.
“When we heard about the extensive damage to Macau as a result of Typhoon Hato, our hearts immediately went out to all of the people impacted by it,” said Sheldon G. Adelson and Dr. Miriam Adelson. “We care deeply about the Macau community and wanted to do something to help in the aftermath of the storm. Hopefully, this donation to the University of Saint Joseph can help speed up the recovery process and get them fully back to providing all of their educational services as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing the results for ourselves during our next trip to Macau.”
“We always feel that we’re part of the community. When Hato struck, the first reaction from the company was ‘what can we do?’ ‘Where should we apply our skills and our resources?’” said Dr Wilfred Wong, President of Sands China Ltd.
Patrick Dumont, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. commented, “We’re happy to be here. It’s a horrible thing that has happened but I have a feeling [the university] will come back stronger and better off after the tragedy.”
“To see the students and meet people who contribute to the university makes it more meaningful,” Dumont added.
The MOP15.2 million donation by the Adelson Family Foundation will go a long way towards making the university’s new campus fully operational as soon as possible.
Holy House of Mercy
Also recently, Macau Holy House of Mercy unveiled a plaque at its elderly home in recognition of Sands China’s assistance after Typhoon Hato.
Sands China made a donation of just over MOP2 million in December to help cover the costs of repairing the facility.
Restoration works have been completed, providing comfort to the residents in the home.
The Macau Holy House of Mercy President Antonio José de Freitas led an inspection tour of the roof for Dr Wong, who later unveiled the plaque with Freitas.
Dr Wong said, “Sands China is pleased to have been able to offer assistance to Macau Holy House of Mercy after Typhoon Hato. It’s wonderful to see the elderly home back in order, and our appreciation goes out to Holy House of Mercy for the valuable service they provide to society. We are humbled by the kind gesture of mounting a plaque honouring our company.”
Coloane homes
Early this year, the Sands China team also conducted repair work on 22 houses on Navegantes Road and Lai Chi Vun Street, including repairing roofs, walls, doors, windows, wiring, water leaks, and other repair work.
Among them, three corrugated metal homes on Navegantes Road were badly damaged, which Sands China’s team has since repaired.
This article is sponsored by Sands China Ltd
Four critical areas at USJ
The Adelson Family Foundation donation will go toward addressing four critical areas of need at the Catholic university:
Library – The donation from the Adelson Family Foundation will allow the second floor of the library to undergo a complete redesign to protect against future natural disasters, including the development of a new holding space for the library’s collection and an increase in its electronic resources to compensate for the physical loss of shelf space and books.
Server room – The typhoon knocked out services such as Internet, phone and closed-circuit TV. The server room will now be upgraded with a monitoring system to be installed to prevent future damage from severe weather. The system will help identify potential risks, such as water leakage and fire, and will send alerts so that pre-emptive action can be undertaken to avoid damage.
Audio-Visual Studio – Plans were in place to build a basement-level audio-visual studio for the university’s Faculty of Creative Industries’ new Bachelor of Digital Cinema Programme before the typhoon hit. The Adelson Family Foundation’s donation will support the university’s efforts to re-design and build a new studio in a safe and appropriate location.
The Adelson Family Foundation’s donation will support the university’s efforts to re-design and build a new studio in a safe and appropriate location.
Fitness room and recreational corner – The space may now be reassigned to better serve the post-typhoon needs of the campus. In its stead, a fitness room and recreational corner will be built in the Residential Hall to provide fitness and recreational activities for the university’s students.
What the beneficiaries say
“We are very grateful to Sands China for its generous contribution, which allowed us to repair the damage to our elderly home after the typhoon.”
“The residents are happy to have had their home restored to a suitable condition, and we wanted to commemorate the occasion by mounting a plaque as an expression of our appreciation.”
– The Macau Holy House of Mercy President Antonio José de Freitas
“The immediate interest and timely support from the Adelson Family Foundation came as an unexpected and heart-warming surprise.”
“Without it, we would have been hard put to get the damaged facilities back to working order this academic year. We are deeply grateful to the Adelsons both for having noticed our plight and for their rapid and generous support to USJ at such a critical time.”
-USJ rector, Fr Peter Stilwell
Mr Kwok, a resident of Lai Chi Vun, said the residents faced very tough conditions after the typhoon. Fortunately, the Housing Bureau and Sands China provided timely assistance, which he described as being a lifesaver. He and his family expressed their immense gratitude for the help, which they said they will never forget.
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