A record sum was revealed today at the closing ceremony of Operation Santa Claus at the Grand Hyatt hotel. The annual fundraising event is jointly organized by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and South China Morning Post (SCMP), with money going this year to 16 beneficiaries. There was concern at the beginning of the six week campaign that the economic uncertainty would affect the total, but officiating guests at the lunchtime ceremony disclosed a total raised of HK$16,533,796 - the highest amount in 24 years of Operation Santa Claus.

　　Officiating guests including Wife of the Chief Executive, the Honorary Patron of the campaign Selina Tsang, Secretary of Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, SCMP Non-Executive Chairman David Pang, Director of Broadcasting Roy Tang Yun-kwong, SCMP Acting Editor-in-Chief Cliff Buddle,Grand Hyatt Hotel Hong Kong General Manager Gordon Fuller, Operation Santa Claus 2011 Project Coordinator Deon Lai, together with representatives of major donors and beneficiaries, were invited to reveal the final figure step by step through hanging numbers onto the backdrop.

　　Secretary of Development Carrie Lam took the opportunity to speak on corporate social responsibility, while guests and representatives of the beneficiaries also shared their feelings about the community-wide campaign. Director of Broadcasting Roy Tang was impressed by the creativity of the fundraising events organized by corporate and individual donors, which made donating fun.

　　Celebrating its 24^th anniversary, OSC has raised more than 160 million dollars. A record of 27 major donors and 19 major school donors took part this year. Of them, eight were new to the campaign. This year’s biggest corporate fund-raiser was Morgan Stanley. In a week they raised a record HK$2.45 million by sponsoring a choir performance by their senior executives.

　　This year, 16 deserving charities have been chosen to benefit from the fund-raising drive. These recipients are the Boys' Brigade, Hong Kong, Children's Heart Foundation, Chi Heng

　　Foundation Limited, Operation Smile - China Medical Mission Limited, The Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association Limited, Art in Hospital Limited, Rehabaid Society, Enlighten Hong Kong Limited, Children’s Medical Foundation, Diabetes Hong Kong, Hong Kong Arthritis & Rheumatism Foundation Limited, Families of SMA Charitable Trust, Hong Kong Federation of the Blind, Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Red Cross Princess Alexandra School, and Riding For The Disabled Association Limited. 

　　The closing ceremony was hosted by Bryan Curtis and Phil Whelan, and was broadcast live on RTHK Radio 3 (AM 567, FM97.9 Happy Valley, Jardine’s Lookout, Parkview Corner, AM1584/FM106.8 HK South, FM107.8 Tseung Kwan O & Tin Shui Wai. DAB channel 33) at 1:30pm today (18 January). Programme archive can also be found on Radio 3 webpage (http://radio3.rthk.hk) and Operation Santa Claus 2011 website (http://rthk.hk/special/osc2011/; osc.scmp.com).