charity Posts

Dec132011

Posted By
Nicki

China Charities for Christmas

It’s already mid-December and although we live in China, Christmas decorations have gone up around town and the local Carrefour and RT-Mart are playing Christmas music. Christmas is a time when many people like to give gifts to friends and family, but for expats in China it can be difficult to send gifts to whatever country (or countries!) our friends and families are living in. If you haven’t sent those gifts months ago, you can always shop online and hope the rush shipping will make it there on time…

There is another option for gift giving or even end of the year tax breaks though, and that’s giving to a charity. You can always donate in the name of your gift recipient, and while they might have enjoyed a physical present more, perhaps they’ll be just as grateful not to have to try to figure out how to regift that panda poop tea.

May312011

NoComments

Posted By
Ryan

Sumo on the Suzhou – a Shanghaiist charity event

The fine folks over at the Shanghaiist have put together an absolutely insane^* charity event to raise money for health kits for children in rural Yunnan. The talented people at Fly Films helped them put together the following ad for the event:

May122009

5Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Afterquake — music to remind us that help is still needed

afterquake It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since tragedy struck Sichuan — killing nearly 90,000 people and displacing millions.

And while time can’t pass fast enough in putting that horrible day firmly behind us all, today is a good day to remember that its survivors are still in need.

Working hard to remind us all of this is a fantastic new project by folk artist Abigail Washburn and Dave Liang of the Shanghai Restoration Project called Afterquake. The 7-track album melds Washburn’s folk with SRP’s electronica and mixes in voices, songs and sounds from the people and places affected by last year’s earthquake.

May102009

5Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Forget flowers, give a real gift for Mother’s Day

A Perfect Mother's Day Gift: The Library Project Gift Cards

In typical “me” fashion, I’m figuring out my Mother’s Day gifts at the very last minute. Being that I’m nearly 12,000km from my mom doesn’t make it any easier. My standard go-to is FTD.com where I can browse through a few dozen flower arrangements, settle on something I think is pretty and says “mom” and order everything online. But this year something stopped me.

I sat there on the check-out screen looking at the fact that for a lack-luster bundle of flowers that might live out the end of the week I was going to need to pay an additional 50% in service charges and surcharges. I certainly don’t mean to sound cheap, but when you’re already paying $50-100 on well-arranged garden trimmings, tacking on another $20-25 in charges seems excessive.

Jan162009

2Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Empowering the impoverished with Wokai

Wokai, or “I start”, is a new(ish) Web site offering microfinancing to China’s poor. There are few things that make me tingle like the principle of microfinancing does. I’d like to think I have a philanthropist’s heart (if not the wallet), and as much as I believe “give it and forget it” charities unarguably do [...]

Dec082008

2Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Help keep Sichuan warm this winter

Hong Kong-based photographer, and sometimes LLW blogger, Derrick Chang is on a mission to keep Sichuan warm this winter. Though the region is usually most associated with hot and steamy bamboo forests, when the winter months hit, much of Sichuan is very cold and rainy – a fact that is no doubt looming on the [...]

May062008

2Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Boomtown Beijing – A coversation with Tan Siok Siok

Last summer acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tan Siok Siok headed out into the streets of Beijing with a rather ambitious goal of capturing the essence of the city and its people the summer before the Olympics. The result is Boomtown Beijing, a film that paints a picture of not just a city or the sporting event [...]