This site uses cookies to improve your experience. We use cookies to personalise content and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our analytics partners. Cookie Policy

Providing Healthier Meals for Low-income families

Established in 2013 through a collaboration between Maxim’s Group and Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service (BOKSS), Kiddy Heart Canteen has been a vital service that offers hot meals to low-income families. Initially focusing on providing nutritious two-dish-one-soup dinners, the Kiddy Heart Canteen has continuously expanded its offerings over the past decade to better support its beneficiaries. Recently, the services have extended to Mong Kok, providing warmth and support to even more families.

Expanding Reach for Greater Impact

Kiddy Heart Canteen plays a significant role in the community by addressing the nutritional needs and health of underprivileged primary school students and their families. In addition to the existing canteens in Tsuen Wan and Yau Ma Tei, a new location was added in Mong Kok last September, further extending care and support to additional communities. From September to December 2023, Maxim's Group provided nearly 3,800 free and healthy breakfasts to beneficiaries each month.

Carey, the Team Leader of Hot Meal Service at BOKSS, said: "Kiddy Heart Canteen is a small community within the larger community. It provides peace of mind to low-income parents who are unable to dedicate time to take care of their children due to work commitments. Simultaneously, it helps children grow up happily and meet their nutritional needs. In the Canteen, we also organize after-school activities to enhance students’ academic and social skills, fostering a sense of warmth and community."

A beneficiary receives healthy dinner and bread from a volunteer in the new Mong Kok Canteen.
Maxim’s Group actively contributes to the well-being of low-income families by providing nutritious bread and two-dish-one-soup dinners.
Online Love in Action

Last September, Maxim's Group and Kiddy Heart Canteen launched the charity campaign “Happy School, Happy Meal” through the “eatie” mobile app. Participants in the virtual world earned rewards by by completing missions and challenges, which were then converted into real-life food donations to Kiddy Heart Canteen. This campaign not only transformed online players’ efforts into tangible support for underprivileged families, but also fostered connections among individuals from different sectors in the community. In total, over 16,000 healthy meals and bread were donated to Kiddy Heart Canteen through the campaign.

First Birthday Celebration after the Pandemic

Tsuen Wan’s Kiddy Heart Canteen recently organised its first birthday party after the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly a hundred of children and parents from low-income families were invited to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Maxim’s Group prepared delicate birthday cakes, mooncakes and mini cookies for the participants, spreading love and care throughout the community. Through various games and activities, the party strengthened the supportive network among members.

Two birthday girls are excited to receive cartoon mooncakes.
Children of different ages play happily together in a group game.
Diversified Parent-child Activities

Last year, Maxim’s Group’s Genki Sushi successfully held "Little Chef Sushi Workshop”. Twelve pairs of children and parents from Kiddy Heart Canteen participated in the event and learned the art of sushi making from professional sushi chef. Participants like Peter, who has had his first sushi-making experience, said, "I’m very happy that there’re so many activities available [in the Canteen]. I’ve also made some new friends. I’m very grateful to Kiddy Heart Canteen and Genki Sushi for giving me such an unforgettable experience!"

Participants try their hands at making sushi.
A child and his parent spend some pleasurable time together in the sushi making workshop.

Maxim's Group also collaborated with Greeners Action to organize a mooncake box upcycling workshop. Participants learned about waste management in Hong Kong and the concept of upcycling by transforming waste into valuable items. Tracy, one of the participants, mentioned, “This workshop demonstrated creative ways to reuse waste with imagination.”

A child tried to upcycle a mookcake box under the assistance of the parent.

Moving forward, Maxim's Group will continue to organize diverse range of caring activities, promoting sustainable community development and creating a more harmonious society.

With meticulous planning and design, acts of benevolence such as waste reduction and donation can benefit volunteers, beneficiaries and even the environment.

Upcycling tie-dye handicrafts with Eco-Greenergy

Apart from a continuing devotion to reducing food waste, Maxim’s also brings sustainability elements to community events, forging connections between society and environment, and promoting care in return. One example is the gifting of upcycled products made in waste reduction workshops to the underprivileged. This simple act not only encourages engagement from the volunteers, but becomes an inspiration for more green ideas and provides comfort to the recipients: a perfect example of one action with benefits to multiple stakeholders. 

In July, three workshops were held in cooperation with NGO partner Eco-Greenergy. The sessions spread the knowledge of upcycling coffee grounds to different communities and partners, including Maxim’s employees, corporate partners and VTC students. 

Led by a tutor, participants used coffee grounds and daily tools to create one-of-a-kind products such as tote bags, shawls and small towels, all with dazzling tie-dye patterns. Participants experienced first-hand the possibilities of coffee grounds in their day-to-day lives, changing their perceptions towards food waste. 

Participants learned how to combine coffee grounds and dyeing techniques to create tote bags.
Sharing fun with Kiddy Heart Canteen

Gordon Chan, Sustainability Officer at Jardines, was one of the workshop participants. He was delighted that items made there were to be delivered as gifts to the children at Kiddy Heart Canteen. He hoped the children would be pleased by these hearty gifts and find them useful.

Maxim’s Group co-founded Kiddy Heart Canteen with Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service in 2013, and it has since worked constantly to feed children and families in need. To date, it has provided 230,000 meals at a discounted price of $10. A registered dietitian from Maxim’s ensures that each meal set includes main, vegetable and soup courses to provide balanced nutrition. Anson (alias), one of the beneficiaries exclaimed: “Thank you Maxim’s for this tote bag! I know the colours came from coffee grounds. My mother uses it at home and it is both pretty and practical!” 

Children at Kiddy Heart Canteen are delighted by their practical gifts, through which they understand the second life of food waste.
Gordon Chan, Sustainability Officer at Jardines, hoped the children would appreciate the upcycled gift and gain knowledge regarding environmental friendliness.
Hands-on actions that increase relevance

Peann Tam, Business Development Director of Eco-Greenergy, shared “These coffee dyeing workshops were held at Maxim’s invitation, and the coffee grounds we used were collected from Starbucks. This hands-on experience for staffs and business partners provided a practical and relevant example of incorporating green concepts into their day-to-day lives”. 

Tam emphasised that the second life of coffee grounds is no longer constrained to fertiliser, but dyeing material for textile products. There are few things more fulfilling than using one’s own hands to transform ‘rubbish’ into something new and useful.

No deed is too small to catalyse change. Memorable experiences that spark awareness of waste reduction and environment protection are the foundation of promoting circular economy to all of society, and even to the next generation. 

Interactive workshops were filled with creativity, with truly unique results.

I’m delighted that my daughter joined me to the event - I hoped she’d understand the meaning of community care through these volunteer activities.

Last December, Maxim’s Group initiated  ‘Care Ambassador Months’, offering help to communities and people in the midst of a cold winter.

In just two months 16 volunteer activities were held, involving the participation over 390 volunteers. With support from corporate and NGO partners, the events accumulated over 1,000 voluntary hours and serviced 5,200 beneficiaries. Green elements were incorporated into all these activities, which took place in settings ranging from urban to countryside.

Actualize Waste Reduction with Actions

Among the many activities during Care Ambassador Months was a new ‘Green Hero Challenge’ launched by Maxim’s Group in collaboration with The Green Earth. Our ambassadors cleared rubbish from 16.5 km of trails whilst enjoying the beautiful natural scenery, with every step carrying a ‘clean mountain’ message. Among the participants were beneficiary kids and families from the Kiddy Heart Canteen - another campaign supported by the Group - which made this outdoor activity a truly meaningful and blissful time.

The Group also partnered with The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups to host a Mooncake Boxes Upcycling Workshop, upcycling mooncake boxes into 100 Chinese New Year candy boxes. With help from the Jade Club, the boxes were delivered to elderly patrons of the Silver Hair Kitchen on Chinese New Year's Eve, sending a message of love while reducing waste.

4000 food wise gift packs for underprivileged families

The Group’s motto ‘Save Food and Help’ continued to be instilled during Christmas and Chinese New Year with added purpose. Donations of cookies and Chinese sausages were made to Feeding Hong Kong, the Foodlink Foundation and Food Grace. Ambassadors packed 4,000 food wise gifts for grassroots and underprivileged communities. Ambassador Fanny Hung expressed how happy she was to participate with her daughter and hoped she would understand the meaning of volunteer activities and community care at a young age. Another ambassador, Irene Liu, shared her hopes that their deeds would help the vulnerable: "Especially during the cold weather, I hope the kids, elderly and others in need will be contented when they received the donation; I wish them all good health.”    

Love Bread Program Spreads for Over A Decade

Large-scale activities of ‘Love Bread Program’ and ‘Walk for Millions’ were held during the period. The former event captured participation from Maxim’s Group Ambassadors as well as corporate partners including Gammon Construction, Hongkong Land, Jardine Matheson, Jardine Aviation Services Group, The Jardine Engineering Corporation Limited, Schindler Group, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Zung Fu, bringing new momentum to a decade-long mission. Meanwhile, two ‘Love Bread Days’ collected nearly 1,200 bakery items, benefitting to the New Home Association, People Service Centre and other food banks. The activity both brought nutrition to those in need and reduced food waste.

The true meaning of volunteer work was again demonstrated when our ambassadors joined in the Walks for Millions event, a 10km walk from Hong Kong Stadium to the Aberdeen Country Park. Maxim’s Group also made donations in support of The Community Chest and child welfare services to act in the spirit of ‘Cherish Food Help The Needy’, extending a caring hand to the needy.

Related Stories
Promote active ageing with creativity and care
23/07/2022 18:14
Reading Time 4 Mins
Let’s Care
#Caring
#Community projects
#Food assistance
The unexpected value of a hot meal
23/07/2022 18:08
Reading Time 3 Mins
Let’s Care
#Food assistance
#Community projects
#Caring