Development

Charity golf tournament to benefit Shanghai's migrant families

By Matthew Fulco (China Daily Shanghai Bureau)
Updated: 2011-06-08 16:34

SHANGHAI - A charity golf tournament planned for June 16 aims to raise 120,000 yuan to help migrant families in western Shanghai's Fengxian district. The funding will provide support services and educational programs for migrant parents and their children in the new Fengxian You Dao Family Center.

The You Dao Foundation is a Hong Kong-registered NGO established in 2005 that supports Shanghai migrant families in need. For the charity golf tournament, You Dao is partnering with the Shanghai Singapore Business Association–Singapore Club Shanghai (SSBA–SCS), one of the island-state's preeminent overseas business organizations. The event is the largest charity project of the year for both You Dao and SSBA-SCS.

"We will be able to reach out to at least six migrant kindergartens and a hundred migrant families with the funds we raise from the golf tournament,"said Puisina Chau, Executive Director and Board Member of You Dao.

You Dao used to fund migrant elementary schools, Chau explained, but has been focusing on kindergartens since the Shanghai government implemented a policy last year of free education for all school age children of working migrants. The policy applies primarily to children of elementary school age and older.

You Dao plans to open another migrant family center in the Baoshan district next year, Chau added.

SSBA-SCS has also done extensive philanthropic work in China. In 2007, it organized a gala dinner that raised 1.2 million yuan to rebuild the Nanxiang, Congming and Sanmajia primary schools in rural Jilin province. Its 2009 food fair generated 330,000 yuan for additional restorations to the Nanxiang school.

SSBA-SCS first organized a charity golf tournament in China in 2006. That event raised 80,000 yuan to help disadvantaged families in Zhaozhuang, Shandong province pay for their medical and educational expenses.

For more information on this year's tournament, to be held at Shanghai's Lake Malaren Golf Club, please visit the following websites:

SSBA-SCS: www.ssba-scs.com

You Dao: http://youdao.org.hk