A nationwide charity campaign focused on children in China was
launched on Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing.
The campaign will officially start on June 23 with a charity
evening ball in Shanghai. Celebrities will grace the event.
Part of the campaign includes the production of several
television and cartoon series that expound traditional moral
values.
Mo Wenxiu, vice chairwoman of the All China Women's Federation
and also vice president of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund
(CCTF) said at the opening ceremony that donations will be
collected to build libraries and music teaching classrooms in poor
villages, to help children suffering from asthenia - a debilitating
disease which causes abnormal weakness - to provide financial
support to impoverished middle school students, and to train girls
living in poverty in practical life skills.
At the launch, two local companies donated a total of 7 million
yuan (about US$875,000).
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the
CCTF, and it is the fifth time that the CCTF has launched a
national charity campaign of this kind.
The CCTF, founded in 1981, was the first civil affairs fund in
China. Over the last 25 years, the fund has dedicated itself to
charity programs especially in aid of poor girls and families. By
July 2005, the CCTF had collected more than 600 million yuan (about
US$75 million) to enable 1.5 million impoverished girls to return
to school.
(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2006)