Belgium embassy sells charity chocolates to aid sick baby

The wife of the Belgian ambassador to China held a charity sale of handmade chocolates and other foodstuffs at her residence Sunday to raise money for medical treatment for the baby daughter of an embassy employee.

Gu Jing posted on her Sina microblog that the charity sale on Sunday had collected 38,201 yuan ($6,142) for the 6-month- old daughter of the embassy's plumber.

The child was diagnosed with epilepsy, and was sent from her home in Henan Province to Beijing for treatment at the Capital Institute of Pediatrics, which will cost about 100,000 yuan, Gu wrote.

"The plumber has worked for the ambassador's family for years and they developed a friendship," said Chris Jiang, who is a friend of Gu and bought 21 jars of chocolates and 12 jars of homemade jam.

The chocolate jars cost 380 yuan each, and contained 15 pieces, and the jam was 60 yuan a jar, she said.

"I hope more people will attend such events and help those who have lower salaries and are in need," Jiang remarked.

"The event was supposed to last from 2 to 4 pm, but was prolonged to nearly 6 pm because it attracted about 100 people, more than we expected," said Li Xiaoshuang, assistant general manager of Haobao Organic Farm, which provided 40 boxes of vegetables from Kunming, Yunnan Province.

Aside from chocolate, jam, vegetables, coffee and Belgium beer, there were also paintings on auction, Li said.

"I worked with Gu from Thursday to Saturday to make the chocolate and jam," said Guan Yue, a friend of Gu's who also studied chocolate making at famed Belgium chocolatiers, House of Wittamer in Brussels.

"The host was from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), as were many of the donors are and others are Gu's friends," said Guan. PWC has volunteered to do the accounts.