Charity in Shanghai: The Kindness of Strangers

China is among the least generous of countries when it comes to charitable donations and other altruistic behaviour according to an article published in the UK’s Guardian in September 2010, www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/sep/08/charitable-giving-country. Specifically, China ranks low in the percentage of people who would give a donation to charity (at 11%) and the percentage of people who have volunteered for an organization in the previous month (at a particularly low 4%) but the percentage of respondents who reported helping a stranger in the previous month is relatively high (28%).

Charitable giving is becoming a hot topic in China, particularly after the recent philanthropy-promoting dinner hosted by billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet for China’s richest people. However, simple volunteer work and random acts of kindness should not be forgotten. With this in mind, we thought we’d help raise awareness of charity work going on in Shanghai. Despite the Guardian’s report, charity work is on the rise in Shanghai. Here is an overview of just some of the organizations working to make the city a better place:

The Community Centre Shanghai (www.communitycenter.cn) is a great place to start. The centre supports a wide range of projects such as River of Hearts (www.riverofhearts.org), which collects clothing for the underprivileged and then holds ‘sorting parties’ at international schools to go through the mountains of clothes they receive. In addition to its own projects, the Community Centre Shanghai also provides a wealth of information about other charity organizations and programmes here.

The internationally known Rotary Club (www.rotaryshanghai.org), which began its good works in Shanghai in 1919, is quite active here, as is its spinoff for young professionals, the Rotaract Club (www.rotaractshanghai.org). Rotary undertakes many different projects in the region including the highly successful Gift of Life project, which provides heart operations for children in need, while Rotaract this year, among other initiatives, ran a Food Collection drive that brought together 2.5 tonnes of food.

The Rotaract Food Collection drive. 

Lifeline (www.lifelineshanghai.com) was launched in Shanghai in 2004. Lifeline provides confidential emotional support over the phone and volunteers can help by becoming a phone counselor, helping to raise funds and awareness, or attending events such as the upcoming Murder Mystery Night (Friday November 5th 2010, see website for details or email info@lifelineshanghai.com), a 1940s themed evening of interactive dinner theatre.                                                                            
Shanghai has a very active and sociable chapter of BEAN (http://shanghai.beanonline.org), an organization for young professionals that promotes volunteerism and charitable giving. Through BEAN volunteers can adopt a grandparent, paint a mural at a migrant school, or even bake cookies for charity – the possibilities are endless.

Second Chance Animal Aid or SCAA for short (www.scaashanghai.org) facilitates the adoption of abandoned cats and dogs. You can volunteer by becoming a foster parent for rescued animals, looking after them until a permanent home may be found, or help out the organization in other ways, perhaps by lending your professional skills in fundraising or IT.

Like SCAA, Jaiya’s Animal Rescue (JAR) (http://jargroup.doodlekit.com) focuses upon finding new homes for abandoned animals. Also like SCAA, it is not an animal shelter and merely facilitates adoption through regular adoption days where ‘foster parents’ bring along their wards to meet prospective permanent owners. They also aim to raise funds for the protection of animals and raise awareness about animal welfare in China.

One of SCAA'S many pets in need of a home

Shanghai Roots and Shoots (www.jgi-shanghai.org) is part of a global initiative begun by the famous primatologist Dr Jane Goodall. The programme aims to promote love of animals, awareness of environmental issues and sustainable development. As well as contributing your services to the organization in more mundane ways like administration, translation, and fundraising, there are also opportunities to plant trees or work with local kids on a range of projects.

At Shanghai Expat, we would like to start a series of written reflections about volunteer experiences with local charity groups. In the coming weeks, we will profile a different charity through the eyes of one of its volunteers. If you would like to be involved please email us at leah@shanghaiexpat.com or nichols@shanghaiexpat.com.

Forum discussions:
Charities and Volunteering
Anyone interested in doing some charity work?