Beijing (CNS) -- To raise social funds for children in poor regions of western China who can't afford lunches at school and seriously lack nutrition, an advocacy campaign called "Free Lunch" was initiated by some domestic media celebrities in March 2011.
The program was called a "micro-charity," for it was started on a micro-blog network and it is aimed at providing lunch to a target student with a micro-amount of 3 yuan.
"The four elements of charity are rationalization, professionalization, organization, and feasibility. Without them, a charity is hardly sustainable. For this reason, I am worried about the development of the 'Free Lunch' program," Tu Meng, secretary at the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF), told CNS.
One positive thing has been the warm reaction from society, especially in light of the recent serious concerns over the credibility of charity officials. So far, about 14 million yuan ($2.19 million) had been funded to elementary students from nearly 30 schools in Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Henan, and Guangdong provinces.
Regarding the doubts raised by Tu Meng, one of the main initiators, Deng Fei, responded with his belief in its prospective continuance. The promotional efforts and a series of in-depth reports have gathered a large popularity of 360,000 followers on Weibo.
"We will expand our target group step by step according to the situation of the fund, and keep in contact with local governments for guidance and assistance. Meanwhile, we will stick to honest, public, transparent, and persistent principles," said Deng, speaking of concrete measures to carry on for an extended period of time.
"Moreover, we are looking into the field of voluntary organizations, for supervision and donation diversity, to assure that the money goes to the needy." Another benefit of cooperation lies in more potential to explore multilevel resources that might help the students on the one hand, and on the other hand, allow for common growth for all engaged groups, pointed out Deng.
"It is to our wish that official and civil resources will be integrated and contribute to the cause of charity together," said Tu Meng.
The CYDF is registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and reports to the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. Its Hope Project has been the most widely-involved and influential civil charity program in China.
In fact, the CYDF also played a part in the "Free Lunch" program early on. As confirmed by both Tu Meng and Deng Fei, they met in Guangxi and discussed how to provide kitchen facilities to local schools not long ago. So far, the cooperation has been going well.
For next year, the "Free Lunch" program is planning on interacting with local officials in minority counties and counties under the poverty line to persuade them into leading a local chapter of the program.
"We are mainly focusing on schools in poor regions, other than the two types of counties," noted Deng. "As to whether the officials in the two types of places will carry it out, we cannot yet say."
"The work on a children's welfare system should be sponsored by governmental, social, and family engagements, none of which is free of responsibility," added Deng.
