Many Christian-initiated charity organizations participated in this year’s 99 Giving Day, encouraging the Christian community to respond to the slogan “Do Charity Together”.
Brother Z, one of them, recently shared the double encouragement he received from his participation in 99 Giving Day, the three fundraising day event around every year's September 9 launched by the Tencent Foundation which promises to give a donation for every donating fund.
Now living in A city, Z used to be a businessman, but later he began to devote himself to charity, leaving his business to his wife. He has been committed to charity and public welfare undertakings, especially after the earliest COVID-19 outbreak last year, he has operated a public welfare project of “Loving Family”.
The project aims to care for sick children suffering from serious illnesses. Although they would not directly raise money for patients, they realize that many parents of children suffering from serious illnesses need to accompany them to see the doctors in the hospitals in big cities, especially the famous children’s hospital. For a variety of reasons, it can be difficult for parents to find convenient and inexpensive accommodation close to hospitals in central cities.
Especially after the outbreak in 2020, Z’s fellow workers found that the parents of some child patients had to live in the corridor because the surrounding communities were closed to outsiders, and those parents who accompanied their children to the big city for chemotherapy had no place to stay. Faced with such a painful situation, they started the Loving Family project. They rented three rooms in a hotel near the hospital and used them to provide the parents or families of the children with accommodation. Later, they gradually expanded the size to about 10 rooms.
Accommodation is provided free of charge in the Loving Family, and applicants can apply if they meet certain criteria of poverty and serious illness.
Considering that people won’t cherish or take care of facilities if it’s free, Z will charge a management fee of 50 yuan a day. In this kind of central region of the big city, this cost for a room of a few people near the hospital is actually just symbolic, and specialized personnel would manage the rooms.
At the same time, the persons who stay after paying the management fee also need to regularly attend the communication activities with the relatives of other patients, through which they can not only comfort each other, but also exchange some useful information about medical treatment, doctors, and hospitals. At the same time, they will also provide some school children with free tutoring.
In the whole service process, the management personnel of Loving Family has stressed very much that they should accept professional courses or training when helping vulnerable groups with love, rather than just relying on temporary enthusiasm and the love that they think the other party needs, which will often cause “secondary harm”.
Brother Z said that the applicants for their current ten rooms are mainly introduced by patients, so it is in short supply. He also knows that there are similar public welfare projects in many big cities, and he thinks the public service in this field is worth paying for.
Since the beginning of this public welfare project, he has been worried about funding, because he is the one in charge of fundraising. They participated in China's largest annual online charity campaign 99 Giving Day last year and again this year. This year, he invited people around him, both Christian and non-Christian, to participate in the fund-raising for their projects, and raised more than 100,000 yuan, of which he directly raised about 70,000. With the 100 thousand directly raised donation and the donation from Tencent Charity, they raised about one million, which is sufficient for the operation of this project in the next year. Therefore, he began to consider starting a similar charity project near another famous hospital in his city.
“We don’t need you to donate much, just one yuan per person, and the maximum amount a person can donate is 999 yuan. But you can invite more people you know to join, and they can also donate between one and 999. I want more people to participate.”
When he tried to invite more people to participate in such public welfare projects, he was not only able to secure funds for his public welfare projects in the coming year but also feels inspired to see many caring people, both Christian and non-Christian, come to support his work.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
在今年的99公益日中，不少基督徒发起的慈善公益机构也参与，在基督徒群体里面鼓励大家响应口号“一块做好事”。
Z弟兄就是其中的一员。日前，他分享了参与99公益日，从善款和爱心上得到的双重激励。
Z弟兄目前居住在某地区的A市，曾经是一位商人，后来开始投身慈善，把自己的企业都交给妻子运营了，而他投入到慈善公益事业中，尤其是去年疫情后他参与和运作一个类似“爱心小家”的公益项目。
该项目旨在关怀患有大病重病的孩子们，他们虽然并不是直接筹款给患者，但在实际生活中发现很多患有大病重病的孩子的父母，会因为要陪着孩子看病常常来往于家乡和一线城市的有名的医院之间，尤其是儿童医院，而这些父母们又因为经济等各种原因，在中心城市很难有比较方便、便宜、靠近医院的住宿。
特别是2020年疫情后，Z弟兄的同工发现一些儿童患者的父母不得不住在楼道里面，因为周围的小区都处于封闭状态不随便接待外人，而陪伴孩子来到城市做化疗的这些父母们也不得不居无定所。面对这样令人心疼的情况，他们就开始发起这个“爱心小家”项目，先租下医院附近宾馆的3个房间，固定提供给这些孩子的父母或家庭居住，随后因着需要而逐渐扩大到现在大约有10个左右的房间。
“爱心小家”的住宿是免费提供的，如果达到一定的贫困标准和大病标准，是可以申请的。
Z弟兄考虑到常常免费的时候很多人不懂得珍惜并且很难爱护设施，所以会收取每天50元的管理费，在类似这种处于区域中心的城市，这样的费用对于在医院附近有一个几个人居住的房间来说其实算是象征性的，并且会配备专门的管理人员来维持。
与此同时，缴纳管理费后入住的人还需要比如定时出席病友家属一起的交流活动，藉着这样的交流不仅可以彼此安慰，病友家属之间也可能可以互通一些关于医疗、医生和医院等有用的信息。与此同时，他们还会给一些上学的孩子提供免费的补课帮助等。
在整个服务过程中，“爱心小家”的管理人员都非常强调，在爱心帮助弱势群体时要接受专业的课程或培训，而不只是靠一时的热情和自以为对方需要的爱心，这样往往会造成“二次伤害”。
Z弟兄介绍说，他们现在的10个左右的房间的申请者，目前主要都是病友之间互相介绍过来的，基本上供不应求。他也知道在不少地区的中心城市都有类似的“爱心小家”的公益项目，他认为这一领域的公益服务值得付出。
在做这个公益项目开始至今，其实资金都是一块很发愁的问题，因为他是负责筹款的人。去年开始，他们参与了99公益日，今年再度参加。今年他邀请身边基督徒和非基督徒的爱心人士广泛参与给他们项目的筹款，共筹得10万多的善款，其中他个人直接筹款的大约有7万左右的样子。这10万直接筹的善款加上腾讯公益的配捐，他们可以有大约100万的善款，对下一年度这个项目运作能够提供的资金是充足的，所以他也开始考虑在他所在城市的另外一个著名医院附近也开始类似的公益项目。
“我们不要求你多捐，每个人1块钱就行，一个人最多能够捐的是999元。但是你可以邀请更多你认识的人来参与，对方也可以捐1-999之间。因为希望更多人来参与。”
而当他努力的邀请更多人来参与这样的公益项目时，不仅他所运作的公益项目未来一年的资金有了着落，同时看到许多爱心人士不管是基督徒还是非基督徒都来助力支持他所作的，他内心感到备受激励。
一位基督徒分享参与99公益日的感恩：从善款和爱心上得到双重激励
Many Christian-initiated charity organizations participated in this year’s 99 Giving Day, encouraging the Christian community to respond to the slogan “Do Charity Together”.
Brother Z, one of them, recently shared the double encouragement he received from his participation in 99 Giving Day, the three fundraising day event around every year's September 9 launched by the Tencent Foundation which promises to give a donation for every donating fund.
Now living in A city, Z used to be a businessman, but later he began to devote himself to charity, leaving his business to his wife. He has been committed to charity and public welfare undertakings, especially after the earliest COVID-19 outbreak last year, he has operated a public welfare project of “Loving Family”.
The project aims to care for sick children suffering from serious illnesses. Although they would not directly raise money for patients, they realize that many parents of children suffering from serious illnesses need to accompany them to see the doctors in the hospitals in big cities, especially the famous children’s hospital. For a variety of reasons, it can be difficult for parents to find convenient and inexpensive accommodation close to hospitals in central cities.
Especially after the outbreak in 2020, Z’s fellow workers found that the parents of some child patients had to live in the corridor because the surrounding communities were closed to outsiders, and those parents who accompanied their children to the big city for chemotherapy had no place to stay. Faced with such a painful situation, they started the Loving Family project. They rented three rooms in a hotel near the hospital and used them to provide the parents or families of the children with accommodation. Later, they gradually expanded the size to about 10 rooms.
Accommodation is provided free of charge in the Loving Family, and applicants can apply if they meet certain criteria of poverty and serious illness.
Considering that people won’t cherish or take care of facilities if it’s free, Z will charge a management fee of 50 yuan a day. In this kind of central region of the big city, this cost for a room of a few people near the hospital is actually just symbolic, and specialized personnel would manage the rooms.
At the same time, the persons who stay after paying the management fee also need to regularly attend the communication activities with the relatives of other patients, through which they can not only comfort each other, but also exchange some useful information about medical treatment, doctors, and hospitals. At the same time, they will also provide some school children with free tutoring.
In the whole service process, the management personnel of Loving Family has stressed very much that they should accept professional courses or training when helping vulnerable groups with love, rather than just relying on temporary enthusiasm and the love that they think the other party needs, which will often cause “secondary harm”.
Brother Z said that the applicants for their current ten rooms are mainly introduced by patients, so it is in short supply. He also knows that there are similar public welfare projects in many big cities, and he thinks the public service in this field is worth paying for.
Since the beginning of this public welfare project, he has been worried about funding, because he is the one in charge of fundraising. They participated in China's largest annual online charity campaign 99 Giving Day last year and again this year. This year, he invited people around him, both Christian and non-Christian, to participate in the fund-raising for their projects, and raised more than 100,000 yuan, of which he directly raised about 70,000. With the 100 thousand directly raised donation and the donation from Tencent Charity, they raised about one million, which is sufficient for the operation of this project in the next year. Therefore, he began to consider starting a similar charity project near another famous hospital in his city.
“We don’t need you to donate much, just one yuan per person, and the maximum amount a person can donate is 999 yuan. But you can invite more people you know to join, and they can also donate between one and 999. I want more people to participate.”
When he tried to invite more people to participate in such public welfare projects, he was not only able to secure funds for his public welfare projects in the coming year but also feels inspired to see many caring people, both Christian and non-Christian, come to support his work.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
A Christian's Gratitude for Participating in 99 Giving Day: 'Inspired by Charity, Love'
