Since May 20, 2020, young single adults (YSA) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Kowloon West Stake in Hong Kong have been going to the Pok Oi Hospital’s family development center in Tsing Yi (hereafter called the Cheung Ching Center) twice a week to help with the renovation of the center.
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Since May 20, 2020, young single adults (YSA) of the Church from the Kowloon West Stake in Hong Kong have been gathering at the Pok Oi Hospitals’s family development center in Tsing Yi twice a week to help with the renovation of the center.© 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.While many in the city are wary of going out to school and work during the global pandemic, some members of the Church feel that there is never a bad time to serve the community and get things done.
“We don’t let COVID stop us from serving others,” said Derek Au, 2nd counselor of the Kowloon West Stake of the Church. “We want to contribute to society and be good citizens. This is a good service opportunity as the pandemic begins to ease in Hong Kong.”
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This ongoing project involves four to five YSA and stake leaders each time. Participants do wear face masks during the service to be aligned with the health guidelines.© 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.This ongoing project involves four to five YSA and stake leaders each time. Participants do wear face masks during the service to be aligned with the health guidelines.
The Kowloon West Stake of the Church has partnered with the Pok Oi Hospital for many years to serve the community. For this particular project, the focus was to renovate the hospital’s family development center by polishing an over 1,000-square-foot unit for the children, youth and their parents to enjoy activities and other services. The goal was to create an environment where families can gather and be strengthened.
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The renovation of the whole center is carried out in several stages. Church volunteers first started with cleaning the whole place. Painting all the walls came next. The last part was to put in new floors. © 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Aaron Fung, the service manager of the Pok Oi Hospital, expressed deep gratitude to leaders and young volunteers of the Church for their devoted service.
He said, “This service project provided us with direct manpower support and financial assistance, which alleviated our colleagues’ workload and the expense to the Center… The Cheung Ching Center has a long waiting list of 50 for its child-care service, but the Center didn’t have the capacity to increase the service quota due to its limited space. Thus, the renovation done by the Church not only provides a comfortable environment for the children to receive child-care service, it also relieves the stress of working parents in the community.
“At the same time, the renovated venue will provide the neighbors in the district with a larger and more comfortable place to participate in community activities, greatly enhancing community networks.”
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Painting all the walls seemed to be a big hit among the YSA members, as it was a new skill they were able to learn. © 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The renovation of the whole center is carried out in several stages. Church volunteers first started with cleaning the whole place. Painting all the walls came next and seemed to be a big hit among the YSA members, as it was a new skill they were able to learn. The last part was to put in new floors.
The leaders have put a lot of time and effort into this project while keeping themselves and others safe from COVID-19. Their devotion provided a valuable learning opportunity for the YSA. Likewise, Au said the stake leaders enjoyed working alongside the YSA and getting to know them better.
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Young single adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints found joy in service. © 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.This was a special experience for those involved as they were able to work well with one another and found joy in serving others.
“It brought a sense of satisfaction and success; seeing the before and after results made everything worth it,” said Connie Mui, a YSA member.
