It was just a few years ago that the Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Charitable Trust was chosen as an Operation Santa Claus beneficiary.
Back then, the fund-raising appeal, organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK, helped the trust finance a training and employment programme, allowing people living with the degenerative muscle disease to work for the group.
Carmen Yau Ka-man, the trust's marketing and project manager, was one of those who benefited from the goodwill of Hongkongers.
Yau, 28, was diagnosed at an early age with the disease, an illness in the same family as muscular dystrophy.
She is wheelchair-bound and cannot move her legs or fully raise her arms. It takes her longer than most to recover from a cold, and her bones feel as if they are covered in iron.
'I'm always hoping I can live better - that I can be more energetic,' Yau said.