Liu Zhongchao is anticipating a great surprise when he sees his "acting mother" on Children's Day on June 1.

Gao Hong, Liu's acting mother, bought him new clothes and encouraged him to participate in a speech contest last year, which was beyond his own expectations.

Liu, 11, lost his parents four years ago in an accident and went to live with his grandfather.

But in the summer of 2007 when Liu's grandfather became too sick to care for him, Gao Hong walked into his life.

The new "mother" bought books and bags for him, and always prepared gifts for him and his grandfather on holidays.

Gao, a deputy director of Yushu finance bureau of north China's Jilin Province, was among 230,000 volunteer "acting mothers" in a scheme organized by the the provincial Women's Federation.

The project, begun in 1995, has helped more than 23,000 orphans, underprivileged children, and impoverished rural children, who stay at home when their parents work in the city.

Apart from "acting mothers," "acting sisters" and "acting fathers" are also becoming part of their families as many college students and men have joined the project.

"Love has no boundaries. I hope the relationship without a blood bond can help them grow happily like ordinary kids," says Malaysian Lee Sooncheong, 50, who has already helped 18 kids as an "acting father."

"Others only have one mom, but I have two," says Dai Yaqi, who was left home by his migrant worker parents in north China's Hebei Province and taken care of by her "acting mother," Men Huiyun.

While many children are enjoying a holiday on Children's Day, some of the disadvantaged children are also being treated.

Wang Fang founded the "Angel's Home," a cerebral palsy treatment center for children on Children's Day 2002 in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The center has 30 children with the ailment, a disorder caused by brain damage occurring at or before birth and marked by muscular impairment.

For the past eight years, the center has received many donations and attracted many helpers.

"At the beginning, I thought I was helping them, but now I realize they are helping me to learn satisfaction and appreciation," says Gan Li, who volunteered while at university and stayed on after graduation.

"They work so hard to learn one character, and they will become so satisfied and thankful after they remember it," says Gan. "But with so many attractions around us, we have forgotten how to be satisfied and thankful."

Song Zhaopu, a "father" for 124 kids, is a traditional Chinese medicine expert in cerebral palsy treatment at Jigeng Hospital, in central China's Henan Province.

Last March, he was shocked to see the situation of the provincial charity houses, where more than half of the orphans were afflicted with the condition.

"Many of them were serious and had to begin treatment immediately," he says.

Two-year-old Dang Lihong, who was unable to raise his head or speak a year ago, can dance and wink at people.

"Treating those kids was initially my responsibility as a doctor, but now it has become part of my life. I will treat more," Song says.