This year’s Corporate Social Responsibility Day, organised yearly on 19 March by the HSBC Cares For Children Fund, saw volunteers from the Gasan Group, the Farsons Group, the Mizzi Organisation and HSBC give up their public holiday to help children residing in various homes for the fourth consecutive year.

These volunteers spent the feast of St Joseph the Worker at Fra Diegu Home in Hamrun, Dar Qalb ta’ Gesu and Programm Fejda in Santa Venera, as well as at St Teresa Home in Zurrieq. The work carried out by the volunteers included decorating, maintenance, gardening, landscaping and cleaning.

Fra Diegu Home head Sr Josephine Xuereb said: “Once again the children at Fra Diegu Home saw that the Maltese business community is thinking of them. At the end of the day, when the volunteers had finished their work, I had some very excited children to take care of as they enjoyed their redecorated flats, and their newly landscaped garden.”

As in previous years, the top executives of the various organisations also took part in CSR Day. Mizzi Organisation chief executive officer Austin Walker, Gasan Group chairman Joe Gasan, Farsons Group chief executive Louis A. Farrugia and HSBC chief executive officer Shaun Wallis were all hard at work.

“19 March is a special day for business in Malta. Corporate social responsibility is not just about giving money to the community in which you do business, but about getting actively involved in helping people on a practical level,” said HSBC Cares For Children Fund chairman Catherine Gonzi.

“With the help of hundreds of volunteers from Gasan Group, Farsons Group, Mizzi Organisation and HSBC, we have made a real difference to the quality of life of all the children who reside in these homes.

“CSR Day is now an established annual event in Malta. I hope that we can extend it to include more companies next year. However, I am delighted that this year this initiative has once again received such great support,’ said Mrs Gonzi.