FIVE MINUTES WITH

Five minutes with Gabrielle Kirstein

Cheyelene Fontanilla meets the Founder & CEO of Feeding Hong Kong

Gabrielle Kirstein is the woman behind Feeding Hong Kong, a charity responsible for getting 10 million meals to vulnerable people across the city since 2011. She made her start at an advertising agency in London, before moving to Hong Kong where she worked in marketing and events. Plenty has changed since those years though, as she’s swapped out her corporate career for an impassioned mission.

Once committed to a job that granted frequent trips abroad, Kirstein now spends her time meeting with companies and charities in Hong Kong to accomplish one thing: ‘Feed people, not landfills.’ “My travel time shrank considerably but there was a worthwhile trade-off,” she says. “In my first year of Feeding HK, I saw more of Hong Kong than I had done in the eight years previous. This has only continued and my life is all the richer for it.”

So, why Hong Kong? Kirstein, much like numerous others who come to the city for work or holiday, ended up falling in love with everything Hong Kong has to offer. “I arrived in March 2003 for a three-month project. It was the middle of SARS and I flew out on an empty plane from the UK,” she says. “I loved absolutely everything about it – the hustle and bustle, the people (and food) from all over the world and the amazing hiking trails and beaches. Those three months became a year and then another year and another.”

Now, Kirstein runs an organisation that collects high-quality, surplus food from farms, manufacturers, distributors and supplies it to local, registered charities. It’s a system that prevents waste, saving tonnes of food from flushing into the city’s already-full landfills, while feeding those who might have otherwise gone to sleep hungry in a city that has so much.

“The need for food assistance has never been more vital,” Kirstein says. With the pandemic leaving so many vulnerable, Feeding HK has taken on the challenge of supporting those who have lost jobs. “Some 1.4 million people in Hong Kong live in poverty and Covid-19 has only exacerbated the situation and pushed many from just getting by, to struggling to get by.”

Determined to remain an establishment that people could rely on, Kirstein and the board of directors decided to keep their foodbank open throughout the pandemic. Though this required a shift in operations, it’s been their most rewarding year yet. When asked what her biggest takeaway has been since the pandemic began, Kirstein was quick to respond. “The importance of a support network. Professionally, the Feeding HK team and board of directors have been incredible. Personally, my friends and family remain a constant source of support.” SOUTHSIDE | 13