Operation Santa Claus: Hong Kong children try their hand at harvesting vegetables at Sino Group’s rooftop farm
- Conglomerate Sino Group and The Hub Hong Kong organise activity for 20 children from underprivileged families as part of fundraising drive Operation Santa Claus
- Event includes a workshop to create flower-shaped ornaments with used plastics and the children decorating a Christmas tree in Skyline Tower with empty soft drink cans
On a warm, sunny afternoon in early December, 20 children from underprivileged families gathered on the rooftop farm of an office tower in Hong Kong to try their hand at harvesting vegetables.
The activity on December 5 was arranged by The Hub Hong Kong and conglomerate Sino Group under Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual charity campaign jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK since 1988.
The Hub Hong Kong – one of OSC’s 18 beneficiaries this year – offers assistance in education, childhood development and well-being to underprivileged families.
The rooftop of Sino Group’s Skyline Tower in Kowloon Bay has been transformed into an urban farm which grows a variety of crops including cherry tomatoes, winter melon, aubergines and other seasonal vegetables.
“I had so much fun harvesting the kale just now,” said Chan Ho-ching, nine, who had come to the farm with her twin sister Chan Ho-ying.
The sisters followed instructions from the Sino Group staff on how to harvest the kale, picking fistfuls of leaves from the bottom section of the plant and discarding the torn ones. They were careful to avoid picking the buds at the top so the plant could continue growing.
The twins also asked the group’s staff where they could buy kale seeds so they could plant them at home. “We like kale when our mother stir-fries it. Maybe someday we can eat what we have planted,” they said.
