Operation Santa Claus: Hong Kong's Crossroads Foundation charity channels discarded goods to those most in need

[David Begbie, Class of 1994] With space being so limited in Hong Kong, the supply of second-hand goods is inevitably high. With more than 1.3 million people living below the poverty line, considerable demand for common household items also exists among the needy.

You'd think that both these problems would be easy to solve. Families with too much can avoid contributing to the city's mounting landfills by donating items they would otherwise throw away. But the logistics involved in connecting these two groups - the haves and the have nots - is complicated.

This is according to Crossroads Foundation, a local charity that was set up to provide used goods to the needy in Hong Kong and overseas. While it receives an overwhelming number of donations, it struggles to find the means to connect donors with recipients.

"We can only receive 43 per cent of the offers made to us," said David Begbie of Crossroads. "The majority of it we can't handle, we don't have the logistics capacity."

"Hong Kong has such a volume of material to give, we're trying to find ways to connect these materials to those in need."

Crossroads is a beneficiary of this year's Operation Santa Claus, the annual charity drive jointly organised by the and RTHK.