Operation Santa Claus challenges Hong Kong students to bring holiday cheer to those in need this Christmas
Here’s a recap of all the fun and creative ideas that were pitched at the OSC Fun 4 Funds Challenge workshop
Operation Santa Claus encourages students to come up with their own ideas to raise money.Students from 10 local secondary schools pitched their fundraising ideas at an introductory workshop for the Operation Santa Claus (OSC) Fun 4 Funds Challenge last Friday.
The Challenge gives students four weeks to raise funds for OSC, an annual Christmas fundraising campaign.
Between now and December 22, students will work with mentors to plan their own fundraising events.
The students, working in teams, had three minutes to present their initial ideas to the judges, CEO of South China Morning Post Gary Liu, Support International’s founder Joseph Wan and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) broadcaster Hugh Chiverton.
The proposals included the following:
1. Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College’s Team Infinity plan to host a five-a-side football competition, a basketball shooting competition, and a bingo lucky draw from December 20 to 22.
2. Island School’s Team Dare will have a Christmas carnival – a choir will be singing, there will be awesome food stalls, and Christmas products will be sold.
3. Kowloon True Light School’s Team Alien Cause will have hold a Secret Santa gift swap. They will also have a Christmas booth selling products like bookmarks, hot chocolate and matcha tea.
4. Lau Kam Lung Secondary School’s Team Candles will have a singing carol on December 16 and 17. They will perform Josh Groban’s Raise Me Up and Celine Dion’s The Power Of Your Love.
5. Pui Tak Canossian College’s Team Serenity will perform a Christmas carol. The students will give pot plants instead of Christmas trees to celebrate the festival to be more environmentally friendly.
6. Shung Tak Catholic English College’s Team Operation Unicorn says their name is inspired by the animal because of its magical and supportive properties. The students want to help as many people as possible by setting up food stalls, selling cotton candy, popcorn and hotdog. Teachers at the school will also have a singing competition amongst themselves – whoever wins gets to wear the school’s uniform. They will also have a casual dress day.
7. St Clare’s Girls’ School’s Team Aquatio will set up booths to sell pancakes. They will have social media coverage of the event itself.
8. STFA Tam Pak Yu College’s Team Beauties and the Beats will also have a food stall selling drinks such as hot chocolate and coffee, and snacks such as chocolate rice crispies and puddings. They will sing Christmas songs and have posters for the event.
9. Tin Ka Ping Secondary School’s Team 4D Style will have a Christmas raffle to raise money and also volleyball matches among students.
10. Tin Ka Ping Secondary School’s other Team, Successors, will have their principal participate in the event. Students will give presents to each other as well, to get themselves in the Christmas spirit.
Since 1988, SCMP and RTHK have collaborated on the OSC campaign. Over the past 29 years, its supporters have donated more than HK$260 million to more than 250 projects. Every December, corporations, clubs, and schools participate in the event by organising fundraising events.
Liu praised the students for their pitches. “The teams showed real energy and passion to raise money. As judges, we saw a lot of team spirit and engagement with the judges,” he said.
The winning OSC fundraising campaign will be announced on January 8.
For more information on how you can help, visit the Operation Santa Claus website.