Yesterday, a US-based charity said in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, that it will donate 3.9 million yuan (US$475,200) to help support 20 disabled children at an orphanage.

The fund will cover six years' living costs for the children in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in the west of the region, said Dale Ditto, member of the directorate of the "A Helping Hand Foundation."

Ditto made the announcement after his 18-member delegation arrived in the city to launch a six-day program assisting local disabled orphans.

The foundation will also donate a minivan for the orphanage and arrange training courses for its staff, Ditto said.

It plans to expand its program to more areas of Xinjiang, and more disabled orphans are expected to receive medical treatment in the US, he said.

Since it was founded in 1996, the foundation has provided aid to children's homes in many Chinese cites including Xining, Xi'an, Lanzhou and Shenyang and helped around 1,000 US families adopt Chinese orphans.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2005)