Ark Welfare is a non-profit established in Hechi City, Guangxi, that encourages people to get involved in public service and respond to the needs of their communities.

At 10:00 AM on January 5, 2014, Xuanxiao and Shuli came to the office and took 9 warm bags. 2 bags were distributed by Xuanxiao, bringing the total distributed to 11. At 14:00, they finished distributing warm bags to 7 orphans and also gave one orphan money to support himself. Afterwards the volunteers continued to distribute warm bags to 4 orphans. By 18:00, they distributed warm bags to 11 children. 

Original article written by Jiaxing Li, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

Loving Public Welfare Association of Anding District，Dingxi City of Gansu Province is consisted of teachers and students from universities, which is engaged in helping vulnerable groups by means of voluntary services.

(The running water in China is too polluted to drink directly, so people tend to drink boiled water.)

Before dawn, students living in the mountainous areas are already on their way to school. The school is far away from their homes, so they have to eat lunch somewhere near the school. They often use a plastic bottle to hold water, but hot water usually causes it to become bent out of shape. Many children even drink raw water which contains a lot of germs and microbes. Their health is thus endangered. At the end of 2013, volunteers from the Association visited several schools with thermos bottles donated by the Foundation Management Association for Health Life and Culture. 

I remember seeing the shocked reactions on the children's faces when they learned that plastic bottles release harmful materials when they come in contact with high temperatures.  We believe they will not use plastic bottles to hold hot water again. All of our volunteers truly care about the health of the children and we all hope they will not drink raw water in the future. The students received their thermoses and stood in line silently to express their gratitude. They are the future of our country and we hope to create a bright future for them with our love. 

Original article written by Jingtian Yao, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

According to their motto - “Love, truth, and service to community” - Xingyang Volunteer Federation works to enhance people’s sense of social responsibility through providing them various volunteer opportunities.The office is in Xingyang, Henan province.    

At about 13:00 on January, 10th, 14 volunteers from Xingyang Volunteer Federation went to a nursing home. They were going to cut hair for the elderly people.

In the long corridor, we placed several chairs. While we organized the equipment, connections and wires, several old people were waiting. We helped them to sit down and began to cut their hair carefully.  For those who were not able to move freely, our volunteers would hold them or bring them wheelchairs. As we cut the hair, other volunteers were cleaning the hair on the floor. 

The hairdressers were stylish and pretty, but they worked hard. Each of them cut hair for about 20 elderly persons. When they saw the elderly people and their long nails, they also took out their cutters and cut their nails for them.

The senior citizens were very happy. It was almost as though the hairdressers were pious sons and daughters who were cutting their mother's and father's hair. The hairdressers served each person carefully and patiently.

At the end of the day, we had cut the hair of over 100 elderly people. Seeing their kind smiles, we did not regret our errand. When I carried a 86-year-old grandfather to his room, the grandfather asked me if we would come and cut hair for them again. I told him we would come again. We were only able to provide a bit of help and there is much more that needs to be done. We hope more volunteers will join us and help more needy people. 


Original article written by Zengliang Zhang, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang

Little Red Scarf supporter Xi Li organized a dinner on behalf of Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week! 

Xi Li grew up in China and was diagnosed with congenital heart disease at a young age. At the age of ten she received the surgery, but it put a lot of financial pressure on her family. She later went to medical school in China and is now a graduate student in public health at Johns Hopkins University. She learned about LRS during an internship at the Asian Liver Center. Now, she hopes to have an impact on children in China who were just like her! 

25 guests attended her dinner and were encouraged to make a donation online to Little Red Scarf. You can help promote Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week simply by asking your family and friends to like our facebook page!

Transparent Fish Fund would like to wish you a happy and healthy year of the horse! Thank you for all of your help in 2013. To celebrate the new year, we are releasing our 2013 Annual Report at report.tfishfund.org !

Every year, TFISH maintains its commitment to transparency by releasing a book for our donors. The donor book is filled with stories, statistics and financial reports from our partners and members. We hope you'll take a look and learn how we've made an impact this year, none of which we could have done without your help!

Now in an online format at report.tfishfund.org. Click the picture below to go directly to the site. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Help Little Red Scarf Treat 1000 Children of Heart Disease
Silicon Valley executive Chao hopes to inspire community to engage in philanthropy by inviting everyone to join in helping the 1000th child in rural China

Los Altos, CA -- Sponsored by a Silicon Valley family, Little Red Scarf (LRS), a nonprofit organization in Gansu Province, China, will soon reach its goal of treating 1000 children of congenital heart disease just in time for the annual Congenital Heart Defect Week, February 7-14, 2014. 

Congenital heart disease (CHD) in rural Gansu Province is highly prevalent. As many as one in 125 children are born with the disease, but most children in Gansu come from impoverished families and are unable to afford treatment. There are environmental and genetic factors that cause CHD. Children with CHD often die before reaching adolescence. LRS intervenes to give these children new hearts, thus renewing their dreams and hopes of life. Low-income families in rural Gansu receive financial support for heart surgery, post-operative care, and family sponsorships to help children sustain healthy lifestyles. 

Since its creation in 2008 in Silicon Valley by high technology entrepreneur Ping Chao and his wife Amy, LRS has been sponsored by the Ping & Amy Chao Family Foundation in partnership with the two best hospitals in Lanzhou to achieve the goal of 1000 treated children. Mr. and Mrs. Chao hope to set an example and encourage the community to join in the efforts of helping the rest of the children in Gansu (approx. 5000 remaining, 1 in 125 statistics).

Download full press release here (PDF).

This Valentine's Day, please help us reach our goal of 1000 children saved from congenital heart disease by one simple Facebook like!

With 2000 likes, we can give Hongyan, our 1000th child, suffering from congenital heart disease in rural China the opportunity to receive surgery. 

Invite your friends to like this page to support Hongyan and follow her journey: www.facebook.com/tfishfund 

Hongyan's Story: Hongyan is a seven year old girl from rural Gansu, China. Her father passed away when she was young. She had to be carried into the hospital because she had the most severe form of CHD (see her symptoms in the photo of finger clubbing due to low oxygen levels). Her mother did not have enough money for her surgery so they had to hopelessly return home. Her mother has no other choice and told us she will marry anyone who could afford and pay for her daughter's surgery. Hongyan will be our 1000th child which was our goal for the past six years. In a few days, our staff will break the news to her family that we will sponsor her child, and they will not need to worry. We would like you to join us in helping Hongyan and spread awareness for CHD during CHD week by inviting your friends to join our page. You will all get a chance to help Hongyan by simply liking the page. Follow Hongyan's journey to a healthy heart here.

In honor of Congenital Heart Defect Week, the Transparent Fish Fund (a nonprofit that supports struggling grassroot NGOs abroad) is giving $1 for every Facebook Like it gets on http://www.facebook.com/tfishfund to spread awareness for Congenital Heart Disease. 

The campaign ends soon, on Feb 28, so PLEASE CLICK THE LINK AND LIKE THE FACEBOOK PAGE. All it takes is a second! Help us by sending this email to your friends and families.

Donate Here: http://www.tfishfund.org/lrs.html

Little Red Scarf is in Lanzhou, Gansu province and provides financial support and encouragement to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care and help the children sustain a healthy lifestyle.

Wen Hui is 8 and suffered from congenital heart disease (Tetralogy of Fallot, cyanotic type ). She attends primary school and her mother had to hold her on the back to and from school. She would be out of breath when walking. Free breathing is a really a luxury thing for her.

We took a group of pictures for her before the surgery. Because of oxygen shortage, her lips and cheeks were purple. Let’s know Wen Hui’s life before the surgery via the group of pictures.

The lips of children with congenital heart disease would become light purple when they do exercises. Wen Hui could not do any exercises. She could not even walk. When she sat still, her lips and cheeks were as the color in the photo. Her fingers were clubbed and her palms of hands became purple due to oxygen shortage. Her mother’s fingers and palms showed the normal color.

According to the family, Wen Hui was always squat since she was able to walk. Most of time, she had to squat so that to ease the pressure of her heart. When she reached school age, she could not even walk to school. Her parents had to hold her on the back to and from school every day. Wen Hui was happy to climb on her father’s broad back, for her father’s strong back is always the safe harbor of the whole family. 

Original article written by Yujie Yun, translated by Maggie Li, and edited by Yanyan Zhang