(29 June 2015 – 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, co-organized a press conference with Sowers Action along with many artists including Elena Kong and Harriet Yeung at Pentahotel Hotel Hong Kong, Kowloon yesterday. The Company announced its 2^nd title-sponsoring of the “New World Department Store Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon 2015” which will be held in Hong Kong on 1 November. “Face・Challenge”, a newly-introduced online promotion campaign, was kicked off to promote the marathon to a wider community in an attempt to help under-resourced high school students in Mainland China fulfill their study dreams.

Found by Sowers Action in 2000, “Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon” aims at raising tuition fees for under-resourced high school students in Mainland China. Over the last 16 years, the marathon has recruited over 27,680 participants and raised money of HKD3.665 million. The 17^th marathon will be held on 1 November 2015 in Hong Kong. Participants have to complete designated sections of the Wilson Trail within 12 hours to imitate the hardship, walking one to two hours to school every day, endured by students in China’s rural mountainous regions to experience their persistence in pursuing studies. The marathon comprises of three categories, including Run for Challenge (42km), Run for Sowers (26km) and Run for Education (12km), and welcomes participants to join as individual, team, corporate team and family team. Fund Raising Award and Corporate Participation Award are in place to boost public participation and donation. Furthermore, a new category called Premier League is introduced this year to encourage corporations to delegate elites to take part in the marathon, fostering a significant industrial charity force.

To further promote the marathon, Sowers Action launched a new online promotion campaign called “Face・Challenge” which invites the public to accept at least one of the challenges: “Giving face”, painting face with words “CH 12Hrs” or “挑戰12小時”, “Making Donations” or “Running the marathon”, and upload the completion video or photo on their social media accounts, and subsequently tag three friends to accept the challenges. Artists including Catherine Chow, Kate Yeung, Alan Luk, Bob Lam, Aaron Chow and Harriet Yeung accepted “Face・Challenge” by painting “CH12 Hrs” on each other’s faces in the press conference and uploaded the videos and photos on their social media accounts to encourage public participation.

Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “The Company has always paid great attention to the well-being of under-resourced children. It is our honor to work with Sowers Action for the second time in a row and help under-resourced high school students complete their studies with various means. This year, the Company will step up to expand the promotion to Mainland China through in-store and online promotions to educate our customers about this meaningful activity. Many of our management and staff members have already accepted ‘Face・Challenge’ and I hope the public could join our caring alliance to benefit more under-resourced high school students in Mainland China.”

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