As the population aging issue grows, helping the elderly to achieve their personal values is a major social issue. Maxim’s Group, always dedicated to supporting diverse communities, recently joined forces with The Jade Club Management Limited and Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited to hold “Silver Hair Yum Cha (萬歲飲茶O2O)”. Over 250 elderly and their families and volunteers had dim sum together in hybrid mode, fostering a culture of respect and care for the elderly and bringing tangible happiness.

This event evolved from “Silver Hair Kitchen (千歲廚房)”, a collaboration between Maxim’s Group and The Jade Club since 2015, that brings volunteers to the community and interacts with the elderly directly. The event values the elderly as important members of society, and also promotes their mental and physical health. Over the years, this event has helped over 3500 elderly so far.

This year, Maxim’s Group expanded the "Silver Hair Yum Cha" event beyond the virtual format it had adopted during the pandemic, and hosted a gathering at Maxim’s Palace and Elderly Centers. They served an array of signature dim sum, including steamed pork dumplings, steamed rice rolls with minced beef, sesame rolls and ginger double-layer steamed milk. To recreate the authentic yum cha experience, volunteers and staff of the Elderly Centers acted as the dim sum masters, using “Dim Sum Trolley” to deliver delectable offerings around the Elderly Centers.

A number of retired Maxim’s staff were invited to share their unique experiences of retirement. Chef Kwan, a retired Senior Executive Chef, at the age of 70, decided to continue pursuing his passion for cooking and recipe development by serving as an advisor.

Chef Lau, a former senior pastry chef of 78 years old, who witnessed the evolution of Maxim’s Lava Custard Mooncake through the years, revealed the key to his healthy retirement - working out for two hours daily.

Mr. Mok, a retired Management Consultant for Maxim’s Group for 15 years, said he can still enjoy life and help society in different roles. He laughed and said, “I always loved my work, and sometimes I don’t even remember I’m 80 years old,”, showing his passion for what he did.

The event showed a brief video, presenting Ms. Pong, Maxim’s oldest staff, who is a Senior Finance Manager. She is 103 years old and has worked in the Account Department for almost 60 years, since Maxim’s first restaurant opened.

Mr. Keith Siu, COO (HK & Macau) of Maxim’s Group, expressed, “Maxim’s Group cherishes each veteran staff with rich life and work experience. We hoped that they could share their experiences with the young staff, fostering meaningful intergenerational interactions.” Mr. Siu explained that these exchanges not only help to preserve Maxim’s traditional flavours and values, but also drive innovation and advancement within the organization.

Led by a group of The Jade Club’s instructors and elderly instructors, the elderly - both online and offline – engaged in Chair-Based Dance together, waving the pom poms in time to the music enthusiastically. This exercise has been shown to strengthen interlimb coordination, grip strength, balance, and muscle strength among the elderly, encouraging them to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

In the days ahead, Maxim’s Group remains committed to community service and fosters a positive corporate culture, encouraging the elderly to tap into their talents fully, while also inspiring the public to cherish and honor the elderly, as a Chinese proverb wisely says, “Elderly at home is like a living golden treasure.”

Food Angel organised the first “World Food Rescue Week 2024,” bringing to the city a series of food-saving activities. As a close collaborator of the NGO, Maxim’s Group fully supported “World Food Rescue Week 2024” by calling on the community to save surplus food, thereby minimizing waste and collecting food for those in need. Through a city-wide network of food donation points, this initiative successfully gathered 53 tonnes of food, helping Food Angel to prepare over 240,000 loving meals and food packs, extending care to the elderly and families in need and e promoting the habit of food donation among the public. 

To promote food-saving education, Food Angel became the first charitable organization in Hong Kong to establish a presence in The Sandbox metaverse by integrating the principles and knowledge of food rescue into online missions. Players can experience the daily operations of Food Angel through various mini games, from collecting food, processing ingredient and meal distribution, providing a refreshing and innovative gaming experience. Maxim’s also incorporated various activities themed caring, waste reduction, and food saving into the “Food Angel Food Rescue World" metaverse, enabling the public to learn while having fun.

In support of "World Food Rescue Week", Maxim's Cakes and arome Bakery, both under Maxim’s, launched special offers. Players who complete game missions in the metaverse and register as new members on the Eatizen mobile app can enjoy exclusive food discounts. This incentive aims to motivate more players to actively participate in activities and further promote the concept of food saving among the public. 

Additionally, to facilitate active participation in food donation efforts, Food Angel set up over 200 limited-time pop-up donation points and mobile donation vehicles across various districts in Hong Kong during the event. Ms. Lee, a citizen who donated surplus food to a mobile donation vehicle, shared: “I often have a lot of snacks at home that end up expiring and have to be thrown away, which is very wasteful. But now I can donate these extra snacks to those in need, not only reducing waste but also bringing joy to others – it’s a win-win.”

As part of the long term collaboration with Food Angel, Maxim’s has consistently donated various festive foods such as Chinese preserved sausages, mooncakes, rice dumplings, and surplus bread to Food Angel, spreading warmth to those in need. Maxim’s will continue to actively support the caring initiatives of various charitable organizations, fulfilling its mission of connecting communities with great food.

In collaboration with Food Grace, Maxim's organized the "WeGen Care Soup Sharing and Home Visits" at which Care Ambassadors took the lead as nutritionists and chefs to prepare wholesome and low-carbon nutritious soup. This delightful soup was crafted using beetroot cultivated by a local farm through WeGen farming, and surplus ingredients collected from the wet market. By incorporating WeGen crops with zero pesticides and zero chemical fertilizers, this event shared the nutrition and taste of nature to the community.

In addition, Maxim’s donated 500 boxes of MX Preserved Sausage Giftbox, together with care soups, daily necessities, and heartwarming hand-drawn cards by volunteers. These Goodie bags were delivered to singleton elderly living in the Kwai Tsing district, sharing the fruits of “WeGen farming”. This activity also welcomed volunteers to participate along with their children, encouraging the younger generation to actively participate in volunteer service and learn to care for the community.

Maxim's has always been a supporter of charitable activities organized by its corporate partners. In support of Jardine Matheson's volunteering campaign to upcycle used t-shirts, Maxim's collaborated with the Group's F&B app Eatizen to contribute nearly 300 pieces of old uniforms. In collaboration with Dress Green, a social enterprise dedicated in repurposing waste into resources, these uniforms were creatively upcycled into cutlery holders and tote bags to minimize the pollution and waste in the fashion industry. 

For over a decade, Maxim’s has spearheaded the "Love Bread Campaign" in partnership with food banks such as Feeding Hong Kong, Foodlink and Food Grace. Volunteers collect leftover bread from Maxim's Cakes and arome Bakery and distributed to underprivileged families, elderly and the homelessness. As part of the "WeGen Neighbourhood" initiative, Maxim’s launched a citywide Love Bread Reward Program which rewarded volunteers with the highest participation in the campaign through the above food banks in April, the program encouraged involvement of the wider community to get involved in green volunteer services .

Having received overwhelming response last year in its three sessions last year, the coffee grounds tie-dye workshops had returned as part of the “WeGen Neighbourhood” this year. Once again partnering with Eco-Greenergy, volunteers upcycled coffee grounds collected from Maxim’s Japanese restaurants into eco-friendly dyes. These dyes were skillfully used to create tote bags and shawls adorned with dazzling tie-dye patterns, inspiring the community to embrace arts and waste reduction in their lives. 

Additionally, Maxim’s also co-organized the "Silver Hair Yum Cha O2O" with The Jade Club and Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council. Over 250 elderly, family members and volunteers enjoyed dim sum together, rekindling cherished memories of past yum cha moments, fostering a heartwarming atmosphere of respect and care for the elderly.