Deliveroo HK and St. James’ Settlement join forces to combat food insufficiency in HK

Deliveroo Hong Kong has partnered up with local NGO St. James’ Settlement to tackle food insufficiency in the city with a new campaign, aiming to raise HK$480,000, which can provide up to 12,000 hot meals in the first six months to 300 families from ethnic minority backgrounds.

This comes as results of a local research conducted by St. James’ Settlement in association with The University of Hong Kong, showed that over 60% of respondents from low-income households struggled to afford food and maintain a balanced lifestyle in 2022.

Also known as “Smile for Food”, the programme aims to address the issue of food security among vulnerable communities in Hong Kong. From today, Deliveroo customers can make donations in-app or on Deliveroo’s website, allowing customers to round up their totals or make an additional donation when they check out, according to the release.

Over the next six months, the campaign aims to raise a total of HK$480,000 to offer around 12,000 hot meals to over 300 families from an ethnic minority background, in an effort to fight food insufficiency in Hong Kong. Qualified families will receive HK$400 per week in food subsidies for four weeks, totalling HK$1,600 a month. 

Powered by the centralised E-subsidy platform CharityToday, prospective beneficiaries can simply download the CharityToday app to apply to the programme and collect the subsidy on their Octopus cards. The subsidies can also be used on a wide range of restaurants.

Deliveroo aims to maximise the impact of this meaningful programme by leveraging press releases and social media, with the goal of actively encouraging our valuable customers to participate, with Deliveroo matching the first HK$50,000 donated, doubling the proceeds.

Nick Price, Deliveroo Hong Kong's interim general manager, said, “At Deliveroo, we're dedicated to working towards a world with zero hunger. We want to take this opportunity to thank our customers, who supported our various initiatives to achieve the goal of our Full Life campaign."

"In light of our past successes, we look forward to partnering with St. James’ Settlement in the 'Smile for Food' programme. We believe that everyone has the right to access nutritious meals, and we are thrilled to provide this access through this collaboration and make a real difference to at-risk communities in Hong Kong. We encourage our customers to share the joy of food, and put a smile on the faces of those in need.”

Sammy Chan, acting senior service manager, charity services at St. James’ Settlement, said, “We believe the 'Smile for Food' programme has the potential to help improve the lives of those in vulnerable communities for the better. Partnering with Deliveroo empowers us to engage more potential donors with our CharityToday platform, we can make a real difference in fighting food insufficiency in Hong Kong with their support.”

Don't miss: Deliveroo HK to donate 80,000 meals to HongKongers facing food insecurity

Back in April, Deliveroo unveiled a new goal to donate over 80,000 meals to residents facing food insecurity across Hong Kong in the coming year, as part of its global Full Life campaign to fight hunger. 

The new goal builds on Deliveroo’s partnership with local NGO Feeding Hong Kong which has delivered over 500,000 meals across Hong Kong and raised more than HK$2.7 million since 2020 via Deliveroo’s in-app donation feature.

In honour of last year’s World Food Day, Deliveroo continued its collaboration with Feeding Hong Kong to encourage Hong Kong people to rethink their relationship with food with a No Waste Cooking Challenge where local foodies came together to cook up recipes that left zero food waste.

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