Operation Santa Claus: Hong Kong charity brings awareness to children’s spinal health, offers free services for low-income families
- Children Chiropractic Foundation wants to make spinal health checks for children commonplace
- Money from this year’s Operation Santa Claus fundraising drive, along with other sources, will help it provide specialised care to 500 children from low-income families
Hong Kong parents are used to ensuring their children have regular eye and teeth examinations, but spinal health checks are much less common.
The Children Chiropractic Foundation is trying to change that. The non-profit, founded in 2007 by a group of local chiropractors, provides spinal nervous system education and early screenings, as well as free adjustments for children from low-income families who suffer from spine and posture problems.
This Christmas, the foundation is getting a boost from Operation Santa Claus (OSC), which will provide funding for the charity to increase the number of children it serves by at least 150.
Coupled with chiropractors volunteering their time and funding from other sources, the OSC donation means the charity will be able to help 500 children next year.
The funding comes as the charity sees spinal health problems in children occurring at a younger age due to the past three years of the Covid pandemic, which led to excessive use of electronic devices and a lack of exercise. At the same time, the foundation is facing the challenge of raising funds on its own because of the impact of the pandemic on the economy.
Given these concerns, funding from OSC was particularly helpful, the charity said.
“We believe every child should have this opportunity,” said Cindy Tsang Sin-ting, the foundation’s chief executive.
