(15 July 2014 – Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited (“NWDS” or the “Company”; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in Mainland China, inaugurated the “Volunteer Month” in June. NWDS stores across the country co-organized the “New World • Watch Me Play in the Dragon Boat Race” volunteer activity with 25 schools, communities and non-profit organizations respectively. The activity received huge support from employees in China and Hong Kong. As many as 340 volunteers replicated the classic “dragon boat racing” game with about 900 under-resourced children across the country, contributing about 960 service hours in total.

The Company set up NWDS Volunteer Team in April last year to encourage employees to participate in volunteer work in order to help create a harmonious society unitedly. The scale of the team continues to expand and there are more than 2,300 members as of today. The Company has also set the month of June as the “Volunteer Month” to further promote the significance of volunteer service. In the first “Volunteer Month”, NWDS responded to the Chinese traditional Dragon Boat Festival and worked with 25 non-profit associations, including Wuhan Huapolu Primary School, Xi'an Huiling Community Services for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Xinyun Children’s Rehabilitation Center and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, to hold a volunteer activity with the theme of “New World •Watch Me Play in the Dragon Boat Race” simultaneously across the country. In the activity, volunteers introduced the origin and customs of Dragon Boat Festival to the children, and guided them to play “dragon boat racing”, which is a well-known mass game -- players line up to form a dragon boat by uplifting the right leg of the person from the back and placing their left hands on the shoulder of the person in the front, and hop to the finishing line. The game emphasizes multi-limb coordination and great team spirit, and the winning team would be rewarded with delicate gifts. Children’s whole-hearted devotion and volunteers’ supporting cheers combined made it a pleasant day for all.

In addition to the “dragon boat racing” game, some stores and offices incorporated special elements to make the volunteer activity more meaningful and delightful. Combining sports and artistic elements, the Hong Kong office organized the “Hong Kong Art & Tour” activity with the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups on June 28 to give children the opportunities to exercise and exert their creativity. The sweat brought by the sun did not undermine the passion of volunteers. They led a delegation of 19 under-privileged children to visit Repulse Bay, Stanley and the art exhibition at K11 shopping mall to learn more about Hong Kong heritages and modern creations in the morning where they briefed the children attentively and helped them to take pictures throughout the journey. The handcrafts workshop in the afternoon further inspired the creativity of the children. Under tutor and volunteers’ guidance, children transferred the photos taken in the morning on reusable bags to preserve the beautiful memories in an artistic way.

Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “The efforts and selfless dedication from the volunteers have made the first “Volunteer Month” activity a huge success. We sincerely thank them for their participation and support. Many volunteers have expressed that this meaningful activity gave them the opportunities to interact with children in a short distance, and this profound experience further motivates them to continue volunteer service in the future. This is a great encouragement to us and also represents the success of the activity. In addition, the Hong Kong office specially invited six media friends to the activity. Even though many of them served as a volunteer for the first time, they had already fully embodied the selfless volunteer spirit. In the future, the Company will continue to expand the volunteer team and the coverage of its activities, and engage more people from different sectors of the community to join the cause, so as to spread the love together.”

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