Hong Kong Red Cross allocates 400 million donations it received to fire victims

發佈日期: 2025-12-23 22:10

TVB News

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Almost a month has passed since the deadly Tai Po fire, the Hong Kong Red Cross has received over 420 million dollars in donations to help the victims. 

240 million dollars will be dedicated to cash assistance support, while 120 million will be saved for long-term support and recovery. 

Hong Kong Red Cross's relief fund has now exceeded 420 million dollars, with more than a half from corporate donations, and the other half in public donations.

The organisation said 57 percent of the funds will be used as cash assistance. 

Over 2,000 designated Octopus cards will be distributed, with each household receiving 6,000 dollars in aid, and co-resident foreign domestic helpers getting 3,000 dollars. 

Its CEO Bonnie So said: "We co-create a special card we call Red Cross card. So we will reach out to each family through the SWD, the "one household per social worker" mechanism. Then they can reach every single household. And then they got the card that have 6,000 in the card. We also approach the affected family by ourselves. For example, we approach them face to face, we will distribute cash for them."

Apart from cash handouts, the Red Cross allocates 160 million dollars to long-term community recovery projects.

Of this amount, 70 million dollars will be reserved to establish community service points to provide services including first-aid, mental health and social inclusion. 

The CEO noted: "Not only the 1,900 household, but also the community, any needs for mental health and, psychological support, any needs for medical consultation, or even we have some special, service for the vulnerable people, let's say they need some case counselling, follow-up, something like that."

"So that's why I think that it will take about three to five years to do the recovery plan, to ensure that every single person, they really restore their normal life."

The Red Cross has pledged to make an independent financial audit report on disaster relief donations publicly available, ensuring that the public and donors are kept informed about the development.