Payout Giveback is a charity initiative launched by childhood friends Jody Tam and Cham Ho to utilise the recent $10,000 government cash handout towards helping local NGOs. As self-described ‘digital nomads’, Tam and Ho both knew they wanted to help redistribute the government payout, and decided to make that vision into reality.
With the city having gone through tough times recently, NGOs have had to cease operations and cut staff, which has affected over one million people in Hong Kong that rely on NGOs for necessities and critical support. The team then thought of the idea for Hong Kong citizens to pool their collective government handout cheques in supporting local NGOs.
Production by Love 21 Foundation
Partnering with four NGOs: HER Fund, Impact HK, Love 21, and The Zubin Foundation, Payout Giveback aims to raise awareness of the effects that the pandemic has had on NGOs, and what a mobilised fundraising effort can actually do to help the less fortunate in Hong Kong. Tam says that narrowing the list of NGOs to support was hard, but emphasises that she wanted to choose small NGOs that might not get consistent funding. “My decision was made based on choosing organisations led by founders who work very closely on the ground with the community they serve,” Tam explains. “We are a small project, and we want the funds raised to be meaningful for these organisations.”
HER Fund
Payout Giveback initiative officially launched on July 13 and will run until August 12. As of July 16, the project already reached $100,000 donations. Tam says that while they want to focus on the handout, they aren’t closing the opportunity of extending the campaign, especially if the fundraising still has a lot of momentum come mid-July. “If we still have good momentum towards the end of the campaign, we could extend the duration,” she shares. “We will also publish the result of the drive at the end of the campaign and provide donors an update about where the funds have been used,” she adds.
Donors can choose how much they wish to donate, as well as which cause they want to support. For more information, visit payoutgiveback.com. Yu An Su
