Rich round pays off for orphans

The opportunity to play a round of golf with Chinese teen prodigy Guan Tianlang went for 405,000 yuan ($66,420) at a charity auction in Shanghai on Monday.

Organized by Coca-Cola China, the Player Foundation and the Chinese Foundation for the Prevention of STD and AIDS, the auction was part of a gala evening preceding the 2013 Gary Player Invitational tournament.

The auction raised about 8 million yuan, all of which will be donated to improve the living conditions of AIDS orphans in underprivileged areas of China.

Over the past seven years, Coca-Cola China and the Gary Player Invitational have raised about 60 million yuan for the cause. As of October, the program has supported more than 14,400 AIDS orphans in provinces or regions of Yunnan, Xinjiang, Hubei and Anhui by providing families with financial aid, medical assistance and psychological counseling.

The program has also subsidized 710 AIDS-affected women, offered college bursaries to 93 AIDS orphans and helped build houses for 56 families affected by the disease, according to the Chinese Foundation for the Prevention of STD and AIDS.

"The program is part of our long-term sustainability commitment in China," said David G. Brooks, chairman of Coca-Cola Greater China and South Korea. "We cannot develop our business without the healthy and sustainable development of our local communities."

Player, the South African golf legend who heads the Player Foundation, said he is gratified to see the program change the lives and futures of children.

"The collaboration with Coca-Cola, the local organizations and philanthropists turned out to be quite successful and we have made a positive difference in the living conditions of AIDS-affected kids and their families," he said.

Guan, who has become involved in the program for the first time, said: "Most importantly, I can do something for the underprivileged of my own age."

(China Daily 11/06/2013 page23)