What You Can Do To Help Kids

“Someone asked me a question about how people can help orphans and kids in need. Here are my suggestions.” - Mark

• Volunteering your time, regularly, to a local center in your city. In China there are several such 'Social Welfare Centers' that welcome local and foreign volunteers. You can teach English, or music, or just provide lots of hugs to the kids.

• Money donations. In general, foundations will provide you a bank account and let you know how your money is used. Sometimes a portion of the funds, anywhere from 4-10% is used for administrative fees as there are costs involved with even purchasing and logistics.  I used to think this was wrong but I now realize that there are costs that sometimes have to be paid. Depending on the foundation this may also have tax benefits.

• Bringing items like clothes, mosquito nets, mattresses, dvd players, musical instruments etc directly to the kids yourself. This is what I did when I first arrived in Shenzhen as I did not know exactly where my money was going.

• Combining volunteering and delivering items is the most effective way, since it builds a face to face bond and provides tangible benefits. It is also important that volunteering be regular (even if infrequent) as orphans rely on consistency as proof of caring, more than occasional attention.

• Of course the best way is to adopt a child!

Above all, remember that every little bit helps, no matter how small it seems!