At Mother's Choice, we are constantly inspired by the creative ways our supporters generously give their time, resources, and expertise to us. Sam Jones, a long-time supporter of Mother's Choice, kicked off the new year by embarking on 31 days of hiking the "Twin Peaks" to raise money for Mother's Choice and the East Cheshire Hospice in North England. The funds raised from Sam's campaign for Mother's Choice will go towards the creation of an Early Intervention Therapy Room for babies under 2 years old. The creation of a therapy room will go a long way to helping us better meet the needs of babies in Hong Kong.

Famous for its steep, 2,000 step, 360 metre climb, the "Twins Peaks" in Repulse Bay is a favorite among hikers in Hong Kong. Sam challenged himself to complete the hike every day for the full 31 days of January, and we are pleased to announce that Sam has completed a total climb of 62,000 steps! To date, Sam has raised over HK$140,000 for Mother's Choice, and this amount continues to grow thanks to the generosity of Sam's sponsors. To donate to Sam's campaign, please visit his fundraising campaign page.

Thank you, Sam, for going the distance for Mother's Choice!

Tanja’s Letter:

“At Mother’s Choice there are those who are new to the world – with the blessing to find a new home, at times even a new cultural surrounding. And then there are those involved in the daily care of these babies, attending their physical and emotional development, who introduce the babies to how beautiful the world can be. I’ve seen both sides.

At 18, I decided to visit Hong Kong Mother's Choice, my first home, to return a little of what I’ve received. “Home” is how it felt when I was welcomed every morning when my shift started. The volunteers show so much patience and, with their best interests at heart, the little babies are filled with all the love in the world… Coming back to my first home was an experience I cannot put into words. For me, being adopted has never been an issue: my parents decided to keep my birth name (Lok-Yi means “happy child”)… and adoption was always a very open-discussed topic, so it wasn’t a big surprise that I wished to visit Mother's Choice to better understand who I was , who I am, and will be. …Volunteering at MC, I understood that I was fortunate all along. Starting from how I was taken care of by the volunteers, the right selection by my parents, my little sister who was also adopted from Mother's Choice… When I took care of the little ones in Baby Care, it was great to know that I was one of them 18 years ago, because I’m more than sure that they have a great life ahead of them; there’s so much planned.

It was very special to me to get reacquainted with Purviz and Guia, who have volunteered at Mother's Choice for over 20 years – they took care of me in my first 8 weeks in 1992.

From the young birthmothers who stayed at Mother's Choice and brought their babies in, to those other parents who were about to adopt, I’ve been lucky to experience all kinds of cases. I’ve had a great time volunteering and learned that, whether you belong to the little tiny ones or the grown-up ones, you have something in common: you’re a family member.

Love,
Tanya Lok-Yi Fleischer

The reason I was inspired to volunteer at Mother's Choice was a tragedy in my life and also my love for ladies which led me to the portals of Mother’s Choice.

I have been a volunteer at Mother’s Choice since July 1991. I so look forward to being with the little precious pumpkins – my little angels. The little ones are all so very to me; they are a special gift from God, I forget all my sorrow, worries, and stress when I’m surrounded by my precious babies. The feeling is indescribable when you hold the little one in your arms close to your heart. The look they give when they look into your eyes and the smile when you hold them in your arms, feed them, I just cannot put into words. Our babies are all so very precious we thank God for blessing us with them while they are with us. Being at Mother’s Choice spending precious time with the little angels has brought me so much love and peace; I would have like to say thank you to all our babies and everyone at Mother’s Choice.

I have said it before and will say it over and over again – if there is heaven on Earth, it is Mother’s Choice.

Once again my heartless thanks to earth and everyone at Mother’s Choice. God bless and guide all each one at Mother’s Choice.

one of our volunteers, Mrs. Purvis Shroff

Once I went to Wee Care to give the kids their hair cut. There was one child that was simply unforgettable. The nurses called him “the melancholy boy”.

He was a handsome boy whose face was pale with delicate features. Although he was born with disabilities, unable to move about and did not know how to speak, his eyes could effectively express his feelings...

It was summer time when I went there, so, I thought I would cut their hair to the shortest length possible for easy care and started my job. However, the nurses’ shocked reactions stopped me. That is when I learnt that the care workers have already decided on the most suitable hairstyle for each child. The nurses would even store the children’s hair, take pictures of them getting haircuts, and even applaud for the children’s new hairstyles!

Two months later, I went for the kids’ haircuts again. I saw “the melancholy boy” and he greeted me by crawling towards me. He looked up at me and imitated my actions of combing and cutting hair. I was completely surprised!

Children are innocent and helpless, please respect their lives! They do actually understand, not so for some adults!

I am thankful to “Mother's Choice" for giving me the opportunity to serve the children. I have benefited a lot from this experience.