Two-year partnership helps provide 210,000 meals to people experiencing homelessness and empowers them to build their own social capital
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 13 January 2023 – DBS Foundation, committed to championing social entrepreneurship and creating impact in the community, announced a two-year strategic partnership with ImpactHK to support The Kind Kitchen, a community kitchen to serve the underprivileged in need of food support. The Kind Kitchen will provide a total of 210,000 meals over the next two years to people experiencing homelessness. The partnership aims to create long-term impact on the Hong Kong communities in need by supporting people who experience homelessness and enhancing food resilience for the underprivileged.
Food accounts for one-third of all solid waste in Hong Kong, with 3,255 tonnes of food waste being sent to landfills every day. In addition, 1.6 million people in the city are living in poverty and struggle to have access to a hot, healthy meal everyday. There was also a 19% increase in the number of registered street sleepers between 2020-2021, with the total number reaching a 10-year high in 2022. As a result, there is a need to dial up the efforts to deliver greater food resilience to the underprivileged and empower the growing number of people experiencing homelessness to build their own social capital.
Launched as part of DBS Foundation’s Community Impact chapter, the partnership with ImpactHK’s The Kind Kitchen aims to save and redistribute 40,000 kilograms of surplus food to those in need. With DBS Foundation’s support, The Kind Kitchen will also be able to scale up its operation and share more food to the needy. In addition to tackling food waste and the food resilience concern, this partnership will also provide employment and training opportunities for people experiencing homelessness, helping them to build self-esteem and discover their life purpose and goals
Amy Wu, Executive Director and Head of Group Strategic Marketing and Communications of DBS Bank Hong Kong, said, “Sustainability has always been at the heart of DBS. To create impact beyond banking, we support social enterprises to scale up their business impact, and help community to improve life and livelihood and solve social challenges through DBS Foundation. By partnering with ImpactHK, we support The Kind Kitchen project to provide meals for underprivileged communities and create job opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. Through our partnership, we hope to build public awareness of social issues and activate our employees to drive change, impact, and serve the community.”
Jeff Rotmeyer, Founder & CEO of ImpactHK, said, “It is our pleasure to partner with DBS Foundation on this meaningful initiative. The partnership will not only provide meals to the people experiencing homelessness and underprivileged communities but create a more inclusive community by helping them build self-esteem and discover life purpose and goals. With DBS Foundation’s support, we can enhance our kitchen and scale up our ability to bring positive impact.”
The city we call home is more than just a place to live and work. Let us all work together to support our community.
For more information to support and donate to ImpactHK, please visit https://impacthk.org/donate/
For more information about DBS Foundation, please visit https://www.dbs.com/foundation/default.page
Hashtag: #DBS #DBSFoundation
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
DBS
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 19 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank’s “AA-” and “Aa1” credit ratings are among the highest in the world.
Recognised for its global leadership, DBS has been named “
World’s Best Bank” by Global Finance, “ World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney and “ Global Bank of the Year” by The Banker. The bank is at the forefront of leveraging digital technology to shape the future of banking, having been named “ World’s Best Digital Bank” by Euromoney and the world’s “ Most Innovative in Digital Banking” by The Banker. In addition, DBS has been accorded the “ Safest Bank in Asia” award by Global Finance for 14 consecutive years from 2009 to 2022.
DBS provides a full range of services in consumer, SME and corporate banking. As a bank born and bred in Asia, DBS understands the intricacies of doing business in the region’s most dynamic markets. DBS is committed to building lasting relationships with customers, as it banks the Asian way. Through the DBS Foundation, the bank creates impact beyond banking by supporting social enterprises: businesses with a double bottom-line of profit and social and/or environmental impact. DBS Foundation also gives back to society in various ways, including equipping communities with future-ready skills and building food resilience.
With its extensive network of operations in Asia and emphasis on engaging and empowering its staff, DBS presents exciting career opportunities. For more information, please visit www.dbs.com.
ImpactHK
ImpactHK works with people experiencing homelessness to help them settle in a safe home, restore their mental and physical wellbeing, build their self-esteem and discover their purpose. To do this, it provides direct holistic support to people experiencing homelessness and empowers them to transform their lives. This includes employment training, education, food, shelter, emotional support and much more. At the same time the organisation builds community connections to increase collective understanding of homelessness and empathy towards the people who experience it.
DBS Foundation
DBS Foundation is focused on creating impact and improving lives through championing social entrepreneurship and preparing communities for the future.
The existing “Business for Impact” chapter was established when DBS Foundation commenced operations in 2014, and focuses on championing businesses and social enterprises with a dual bottom line.
In 2022, the DBS Foundation expanded the scope and scale of its operations with the formation of the new “Community Impact” chapter. The new chapter looks to supporting communities by equipping them with essential skills for a better future, specifically financial and digital literacy skills. It also aims to tackle climate change with a focus on food waste reduction.
For more information, please visit www.dbs.com/dbsfoundation.
