Over December, we’ve been highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place. Here’s a round-up of all the causes we’ve profiled, so if your New Year’s resolution is to give something back, you’ll find plenty of ideas for getting involved below.

To read the full interviews, follow the links below.

Horses Offering People Enrichment (HOPE)

Children love animals, whether it’s a family pet or the cuddly pandas at the zoo. For some children with disabilities, that love can help them to grow and develop in areas where they have difficulties. It’s called equine therapy, and it’s available in Beijing thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers. We talked to Amy Tripson about Horses Offering People Enrichment: HOPE. 

The Library Project

There are few things better to stimulate a child’s curiosity, creativity, and love of learning than a good book. For most of us, our kids grow up in homes full of bright, engaging reading material. But for many children in rural China, even their schools don’t have a library, or a place to sit and read independently. And that’s where The Library Project comes in. We talked to founder Tom Stader about their mission to turn unused classrooms into beautiful new reading rooms. 

The Lost Puppies of Beijing

In this series, we have mostly focused on those helping the people of this city, and particularly children in need. But our furry friends need our help too, and particularly the doggoes. So we talked to our friend and former beijingkids staffer Auna Harris about the kind souls behind The Lost Puppies of Beijing.

Fitness 4 Hope

In our busy urban lives, staying fit and active is important. Thanks to a team of enthusiastic volunteers, there are now opportunities to do this while helping a good cause too. We talked to Pablo Arriba about Fitness 4 Hope (F4H), the volunteering organization which he founded.

Bethel China

China has transformed beyond imagining over a couple of generations, modernizing and developing at a rate previously unseen in history. But in a few areas, old-fashioned ideas persist, and rarely with such sad consequences as in attitudes to disabled children. However, there are many, locals and foreigners, working hard to change attitudes and transform lives. We spoke to Allie Haaz, English-language spokesperson for Bethel China, to find out more about one such organization.

Migrant Children Foundation (MCF)

Christmas is always a time to think about children: our own and those in need. Few children are more in need than China’s so-called “migrant children,” who have come with their parents in search of a better life in the city, but have no right to education or other support here. And few have done more to help these innocents than the Migrant Children Foundation (MCF). We talked to Helen Boyle about the Foundation’s work.

Chemistry lessons provided by MCF won a national competition

Clothing Auction Network

New Zealander Rebecca Archer has been in Beijing since 2013, but it was an idea she brought from home which has taken off and is now set to expand across the world. We asked her to tell us more about the Clothing Auction Network.

Photos: courtesy of HOPE, Nichole He, courtesy of Auna Harris, courtesy of Fitness 4 Hope, courtesy of Allie Haaz, courtesy of MCF, Dave’s Studio, Rebecca Archer

Over the festive season, we’ll be highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place, and looking at what you can do to support them. Spread the spirit of giving these holidays!

Christmas is always a time to think about children: our own and those in need. Few children are more in need than China’s so-called “migrant children,” who have come with their parents in search of a better life in the city, but have no right to education or other support here. And few have done more to help these innocents than the Migrant Children Foundation (MCF). We talked to Helen Boyle about the Foundation’s work.

Helen Boyle, with one of the children helped by MCF

Tell us about the history of your organization. How did it start, how has it developed?

MCF is a non-profit, non-political, and non-religious organization, with the sole aim of enriching and developing the lives and education of disadvantaged children in and around Beijing. We achieve our aim by providing a variety of resources from native English-speaking and Chinese University helpers, and organizations such as the Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Physics, and the Beijing United Hospital and Foundation. For years, the generosity of these and a host of other organizations have all responded with commitment and resources on numerous occasions. The Foundation is staffed by a dedicated team of long-term helpers who organize and manage MCF events and programs, and maintain relationships with migrant schools and parents.

MCF provides extracurricular and cultural activities in subjects that these children do not have access to. Other than being given cultural lessons from native English speakers, the subjects covered range from science, photography, drama, music, and horticulture, to name but a few. It is worth noting that these activities are of the highest standard, so much so that the children being shown chemistry experiments in one of the migrant schools won a national competition. It goes without saying that without these resources, both professional and practical, none of this would have been possible, and all of this has been provided by a dedicated body of people who are committed to “making a difference.”

Chemistry lessons provided by MCF won a national competition

Having been in education for over 20 years in the UK, I was in Beijing initially for a one-year sabbatical comparing Chinese and UK teaching methods, and I came across a migrant school in the north of Beijing. Seeing the condition of the classrooms in this school in terms of resources, lack of qualified teachers, and the school’s environment for the children, I felt that I would like to use my knowledge and experience to make a difference. The things that fascinated me with regard to the school’s children were the enthusiasm and the energy the children displayed.

English lessons for migrant children

One thing led to another, ending up with me resigning from my lecturing post back in London and staying on in Beijing to help this migrant school. This first school led to other schools wanting help. From then onwards, people came forward offering their experience to help these different schools.

What are you doing now, and what are your plans for the future?

MCF is now running extracurricular sessions for over 500 children covering various subjects each week. Other programs that have developed since the beginning include health checkups, eye tests and the provision of spectacles where necessary, and undertaking the medical needs of four children that required operations, rehabilitation, and specialist treatments.

MCF provides medical care as well as education

Of course, there are numerous stories that can be told about how these disadvantaged children have had their experiences broadened by MCF programs and the generosity of our sponsors. As an example, in October 2019 some of the children visited the Beijing Planetarium, courtesy of The Hilton Hotel Beijing. This is not the first time the MCF has provided a platform for excursions that enrich and develop these children’s knowledge and experience.

MCF believes it can provide help to other regions in China as part of a future program.

How can people get involved? What help do you need, and how can they contact you?

In order to get involved, individuals can contact MCF via email (friends@mcfchina.org). MCF is always interested in hearing from people who can contribute to the services that MCF provides.

What makes your organization different or special?

MCF is an organization that was established 11 years ago with the intention of following through with its vision statement of “making a difference”. Simple words, but their meaning is far-reaching. Those that support MCF either as helpers or sponsors have been nothing short of inspirational as they, like myself, believe we can all “make a difference” if we want to.

Photos: courtesy of MCF

Over the festive season, we’ll be highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place, and looking at what you can do to support them. Spread the spirit of giving these holidays!

There are few things better to stimulate a child’s curiosity, creativity, and love of learning than a good book. For most of us, our kids grow up in homes full of bright, engaging reading material. But for many children in rural China, even their schools don’t have a library, or a place to sit and read independently. And that’s where The Library Project comes in. We talked to founder Tom Stader about their mission to turn unused classrooms into beautiful new reading rooms.

Tom Stader, founder of the Library Project

Tell us about the history of your organization. How did it start, how has it developed?

Fourteen years ago, my friends and I donated two libraries to two orphanages in Dalian, China. Those two simple library donations turned into an international organization with a mission to improve children’s literacy in Asia. As of today, The Library Project has donated 1,372 Reading Rooms and 3,225 Classroom Libraries to rural elementary schools. Each school that we support also receives one year of teacher training and support, along with children’s literacy programs.

I condensed a fourteen-year journey into one single paragraph. If you’d like to read more about this journey, please check out the Our Story page on our website at the link below:

Our Story

What are you doing now, and what are your plans for the future?

The Library Project has a razor sharp focus on improving children’s literacy in Asia. We do this through donating beautiful local language libraries to rural elementary schools, providing quality teacher training, and conducting children’s literacy programs. All of these programs have one year of monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and support.

Our long-term plan is to keep our focus on improving children’s literacy, but expanding our footprint to additional countries in Asia.

STEAM classroom in Dishi Primary School, Shanxi Province

How can people get involved? What help do you need, and how can they contact you?

Great question. The best way to get involved is to fund either a classroom or school library. If you fund a school library, then there are opportunities for on-site volunteerism. The schools we work with are not in city centers and take between two and five hours to reach. Volunteerism at a library donation is both hard work and rewarding for both the students attending the rural elementary school and the volunteers. Also, please feel free to add me, Tom Stader, on WeChat at: tomstader.

Supporting county library in Daba Village, Shaanxi Province

What makes your organization different or special?

We try very hard to be a results-oriented organization, that is both financially and programmatically transparent. We also work very hard at providing those that support us financially an opportunity to physically see where their money goes through on-site volunteerism. We have been able to achieve these results through a network of government partners throughout China because they see the value that we provide to their schools, teachers and communities. I am able to say these things with confidence because we keep our focus on quality programming and we do not deviate from our organization’s mission.

Photos: Nichole He

Over the festive season, we’ll be highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place, and looking at what you can do to support them. Spread the spirit of giving these holidays!

In this series, we have mostly focused on those helping the people of this city, and particularly children in need. But our furry friends need our help too, and particularly the doggoes. So we talked to our friend and former beijingkids staffer Auna Harris about the kind souls behind The Lost Puppies of Beijing.

Auna Harris

Tell us about the history of The Lost Puppies of Beijing. How did it start, how has it developed?

Lost Puppies started in September 2018 when founders Alex and Naomi rescued one too many puppies (think 101 Dalmatians, but street puppy version). Faced with so many pups to nurse back to health, they gathered together a network of dog fosters across Beijing to take in and raise the pups until homes could be found.

Since then, The Lost Puppies has rescued and homed over 120 dogs and we are growing every day. Now we have a group of nine administrators, and a large network of dedicated fosters who help us rehabilitate dogs to get them ready for their furever families.

Zeus was one of the first puppies saved by The Lost Puppies of Beijing

What is The Lost Puppies of Beijing doing now, and what are your plans for the future?

Essentially, we are a core team who coordinates a large network of fosters and volunteers who have come together to rescue dogs. We do not have a central location or space; all our pups stay in foster homes across the city until a permanent home can be found for them.

Moving forward, we will, of course, be rescuing as many pups as we can. We also will be continuing to develop our role as a community resource that empowers Beijing’s rescuers and supports dog fosters and owners. Need to know how to register your dog? What vet to take your pooch to? What to do if you find a homeless dog in need? Where to board your BFF while you’re away? We’re happy to walk you through all the ins and outs of these questions and will be actively working to make this type of info more accessible to the community.

Recently, we have also partnered with Together for Animals in China (TAC), a dog shelter in Beijing. They are a non-kill shelter that is committed to providing the best care. TAC is run by a Chinese woman who has been rescuing dogs in China for years. We are helping them get dogs adopted so they can continue to move more dogs through their shelter. This partnership really has helped us reach more Chinese citizens because as of now, most of our work has been centered around the expat community. We are hoping to get more of the local community involved so we are able to build a more sustainable rescue community here and save more dogs.

This month we have a charity gala coming up on December 14 to help raise money for the pups (you can link the article if you want to.) And we are planning to do some adoption days this coming year.

This cute doggo and all the others pictured, except for Zeus, above are available for adoption!

How can people get involved? What help do you need, and how can they contact you?

The most critical need for us at the moment is finding adopters and fosters. Currently we have over 20 dogs looking for homes and we can only rescue additional dogs if we have foster homes available. Fostering is a super fun and rewarding experience –especially for those who can’t commit to long-term pet ownership. Fostering involves taking in a dog for a short period of time or until they get adopted- usually a couple of months. Fosters need to be able to commit time for caring for the animal and taking them to vet appointments. Our organization will reimburse for vaccinations and spay/neuter surgery for our animals.

If you can’t take in a pup, we are also looking for help with our social media presence, organizing our vet appointments, planning events, collecting supplies donations and more! If you want to contact us please add our official Lost Puppies account by scanning this QR code or adding our WeChat at: lostpuppies. You can also check out our website www.lostpuppies.cn to see our available puppies for adoption.

What makes your organization different or special?

I think the best thing we do is offer support to our fosters and adopters. We provide financial support through our reimbursement system, but even more important is our team of experienced dog owners and rescuers who can help with training issues or medical advice. It is hard to own a dog in China: the vets are different, the rules change a lot, and of course, there’s the language barrier. We work hard to make things easier for people. We help to make sure everyone gets the correct vaccinations, goes to the best vets, trains to avoid pups developing behavior issues, and follows dog ownership rules to have the safest, healthiest, and most fun experience with their four-legged BFF.

Photos: courtesy of Auna Harris

Over the festive season, we’ll be highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place, and looking at what you can do to support them. Spread the spirit of giving these holidays!

In our busy urban lives, staying fit and active is important. Thanks to a team of enthusiastic volunteers, there are now opportunities to do this while helping a good cause too. We talked to Pablo Arriba about Fitness 4 Hope (F4H), the volunteering organization which he founded.

Pablo Arriba (back row, 6th from right) with members of the Fitness 4 Hope team and some of the children they have helped

Tell us about the history of Fitness 4 Hope. How did it start, how has it developed?

Fitness 4 Hope is a non-profit, community project that provides free fitness classes and events in Beijing. Our aim is to promote both physical and mental well-being, whilst at the same time helping local children in need.

What are you doing now, and what are your plans for the future?

F4H started around two years ago with only a handful of participants meeting each week for a boxing class. Since then our community has really grown and we have expanded our weekly class offerings which now include HIIT, Zumba, Yoga as well as Boxing classes for both adults and children. Additionally, we have been able to offer a myriad of events, including women’s self defense workshops, first-aid courses and tennis tournaments to name a few.

How can people get involved? What help do you need, and how can they contact you?

As a form of giving back, at the end of each class or event, participants have the option of donating (through the Tencent system) to our collaborating foundation who we have worked with since day one, Our Learning House. Our Learning House is a small community school in Shunyi that provides quality education and rehabilitation to orphans living with physical disabilities. Donations are completely optional, however, as what we are trying to do is create a culture of giving in which people feel inspired to give back. This can also come in many forms rather than just a monetary donation, such as volunteering with the children, leading one of the F4H classes or assisting the team with logistics such as designs and translations.

We are extremely grateful to all our volunteers, coaches and the gyms who allow us to use their space for free, especially BActive and Warrior One who have supported us from the start. Yet we are continuously looking for additional coaches, companies and gyms to partner up with, so if you are interested in collaborating with us, or you’d simply like to attend one of our classes and/or volunteer with the children then you can contact us through WeChat at Fitness4hope.

Photos: courtesy of Fitness 4 Hope

Over the festive season, we’ll be highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place, and looking at what you can do to support them. Spread the spirit of giving these holidays!

China has transformed beyond imagining over a couple of generations, modernizing and developing at a rate previously unseen in history. But in a few areas, old-fashioned ideas persist, and rarely with such sad consequences as in attitudes to disabled children. However, there are many, locals and foreigners, working hard to change attitudes and transform lives. We spoke to Allie Haaz, English-language spokesperson for Bethel China, to find out more about one such organization.

Allie Haaz with one of the children helped by Bethel China

Tell us about the history of Bethel China. How did it start, how has it developed?

Bethel was started 16 years ago by a French couple who were volunteering at a state-run orphanage here in Beijing, teaching piano and music. They saw three children sitting there, who could barely sit up by themselves, who couldn’t talk or walk. They asked the orphanage “Can we teach these kids music and English?” But they said, “No, because those children are blind.”

There is an attitude in China that blind people or children can’t do anything, will never live an independent life, get married, or have children. The big problem is that there are no role models here in China. At the time, the Gauvains were looking for a way to get involved. When they heard this they knew that this was what they were meant to do. So they took those first three children and fostered them directly in their home. They were taking care of them themselves, then they started bringing in more kids, more teachers, more ayis… It grew beyond their small Beijing apartment, into Bethel China!

What are you doing now, and what are your plans for the future?

We are an organization with five centers across China. Four of them are for orphans. These are collaborations with state-run orphanages, which means these are programs run in orphanages where we provide them with educational activities, advocate for them to be adopted (usually by international families), take care of them, and make sure they have a better opportunity for a brighter life.

In Beijing, we have a family presentation center that provides screenings, a preschool for families to attend, and scholarships for the preschool. All this is to encourage families to stay together: we find that when families have resources, they don’t need to abandon their children. So it’s preventative care to make sure children don’t end up in orphanages.

Bethel China provides preschool education for blind children in Beijing

In the future, we hope to have more family training in Beijing. We plan on opening more centers and orphanages so that more children get proper care and we see fewer children that are delayed [developmentally].

How can people get involved? What help do you need, and how can they contact you?

The best way to get involved is to contact me: email allie@bethelchina.com, or WeChat a_haaz. We need volunteers who can come during the school week in Beijing Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm, to teach English and music. We can’t accommodate volunteers at the weekend, unfortunately. But we always have room for volunteers to help with fundraising, organizing events in Beijing to raise funds to provide care and pay the salaries of the teachers and ayis who look after these children so well.

The best way to really help children in need is considering adoption. It’s not for everyone, but it is a life-changing and magical thing. So if anyone is interested in adopting children from China, they can contact me.

What makes your organization different or special?

We really open our hearts to these children who don’t have families. We love these children, our ayis love these children, and the teachers love these children, as much as their own. They go above and beyond every single day to make sure that these children feel loved and are properly cared for.

You can donate directly to Bethel China using the Alipay QR code below:

Photos: courtesy of Allie Haaz

Over the festive season we’ll be highlighting some of the organizations and people that give their time and skills to make our city a better place, and looking at what you can do to support them. Spread the spirit of giving these holidays!

New Zealander Rebecca Archer has been in Beijing since 2013, but it was an idea she brought from home which has taken off and is now set to expand across the world. We asked her to tell us more about the Clothing Auction Network.

Rebecca Archer with her family

Tell us about the history of your organization. How did it start, how has it developed?

We started about five years ago. We were just having a conversation, a bunch of girls, about downsizing our wardrobes, and just thought let’s have a look at each other’s clothes, see if there’s anything we want. And we auctioned it, based on a model I saw in New Zealand with a bunch of teenagers who did the clothing auction for my cousin’s 16th birthday. They all brought a dessert over, and donated the money to charity.

On that very first night, the girls had such a good time. It’s a really entertaining event, and we raised so much money, a couple of hundred dollars, just for getting together and having fun. And everyone was like, when can we do it again?

The next one, people invited their friends, and it just grew from there. One of the great things about it, the community aspect, is that it gives women a chance to get together, apart from their kids. As you get older we don’t go out to bars and pubs much, and it can be hard to meet people. Plus we love fashion, and the more we got into it the more we learned about ethical fashion. I tried buying no new clothes for a year, to break down some of the barriers around secondhand clothes.

I ran it for two years in Shunyi, with 15 to 20 people at each event. Then I moved and began the city chapter, and it just exploded. The city events happen three to five times a month, and Shunyi once a month. It’s grown from the first year when we raised around RMB 7-10 thousand, to this year when we’ve raised over RMB 150,000, which is just amazing.

What are you doing now, and what are your plans for the future?

We want the idea to spread around the planet. As people have changed their jobs and moved out of Beijing, women have taken it with them, and now there are events in Shanghai, Guangzhou… Pauline [former beijingkids journalist Pauline van Hasselt]is trying to get one started in the UK! Part of the reason it’s worked so well here is because of WeChat, we don’t know how it’s going to go with Facebook. But we want to set up a global Facebook community, have resources available to people, and to help them expand their networks find other people that are interested in coming to the events.

How can people get involved? What help do you need, and how can they contact you?

So the way that we want to spread the message in the future is to get a website going with all the resources. We’ve already developed a lot of the content, but to build our social presence, we need regular posts, and none of us have the capacity to do that. People can get involved with us through writing blog posts, especially if they’re interested in sustainable fashion. They can take photos for us, or make short videos. We need people who can do graphic design, Facebook moderation…

People can also get involved by attending or hosting events, we can support them. The events work best if you start with your own network of friends and expand outwards.

Anyone who wants to get involved can contact me through WeChat: becstarnz

What make your organization different or special?

We have three values: community, conscious fashion, and charity. It really meets the need for community that a lot of women feel. We don’t need new clothes, there’s already enough clothes in the world to go round. And whoever hosts nominates a charity that the money goes to. It’s a concept that’s so easy to spread.

Photos: Dave’s Studio, Rebecca Archer