Caritas Macau Secretary-General Paul Pun Chi Meng announced during a press conference yesterday that the two-day 57th Caritas Macau Charity Bazaar will start next Saturday, November 7.
Caritas Macau held the press conference at Saint John de Brito School to outline details of the upcoming bazaar.
According to the organisers, the bazaar will be held next Saturday and Sunday under the theme “Inheriting Care, Embracing the Future”. After deducting expenses, all funds raised will be used in full to develop new social services and to enhance existing non-subsidised projects.
Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Caritas Macau, Pun said the bazaar will feature booths inviting members of the public to reflect on Caritas Macau’s 75 years of service. Historical photographs and memories related to Caritas are currently being publicly collected, and interactive experience workshops will also be set up, according to the press conference.
The bazaar’s charity raffle tickets cost 10 patacas each, with over 120,000 already sold, according to a statement issued during the press conference. Prizes include a total of 100,000 patacas in cash and more than 250 gifts.
This year, for the first time, a raffle ticket value-added scheme has been introduced: members of the public who do not win the draw can present their ticket stubs at participating merchants to enjoy exclusive offers, the statement underlined.
Pun also mentioned that an elderly residential care facility project on Avenida do Coronel Mesquita (美副將大馬路) has received government approval for its planning conditions map, planned to provide around 40 beds.
Furthermore, a new “Delightful Kitchen” in the Inner Harbour district will open soon, providing nutritious meals for the elderly in a community canteen format.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the press conference, Pun noted that, for the time being, the kitchen is still only operating internally, mainly providing meals to elderly service units that lack kitchen facilities.
It is scheduled to officially open to the public next Monday, serving elderly people in need. Pun explained that the target is for more than 60 per cent of the canteen’s staff to be senior citizens, in the hope of providing employment opportunities while encouraging other enterprises to consider hiring older workers.
Pun added he hopes that both canteens – the new one in the Inner Harbour and the existing one in Areia Preta – can operate independently and become self-financing.
Caritas Macau is the charity outreach of the Catholic Diocese of Macau. According to Wikipedia, it started in 1951 as an outgrowth of the charitable works of Fr Luis Ruiz Suarez SJ and his Casa Ricci Social Services.
Caritas Macau Secretary-General Paul Pun Chi Meng speaks to the media on the sidelines of yesterday’s press conference at Saint John de Brito School. – Photo: Armindo Neves
