Two teenagers in Shenzhen won 2-million-yuan (US$300,500) in charity funding for their nonprofit project at the second Nonprofit Project Competition on Saturday.
Liu Junliang and Xie Songruo, both 14 and students at Shenzhen Experimental School, initiated the project by raising donations at birthday parties.
The Charity Birthday project was awarded the winner of the Best 10 Nonprofit Projects, with support from all 16 judges.
The Shenzhen Charity Association and Vanke Charity Fund each offered 1 million yuan to finance the initiative.
The idea came naturally, said Xie. Liu and I decided to ask friends to donate for those in need instead of buying birthday presents for us.
Liu and Xie went on to hold six charity events, raising about 10,000 yuan. The project now has more than 30 teenage members.
The first person helped was the daughter of a migrant family, Zhou Meiting, 5, who has heart disease.
Surgery will be conducted at the end of November, said Liu. Shenzhen Children s Hospital also promised to reduce the cost of the surgery for her.
The money will also be used to finance medical treatment for other children with heart disease in Shenzhen.
The other nine winners were projects related to improving the lives of retirees, assisting the disabled to start a business, helping single mothers and leisure projects for patients with cerebral palsy, among others.
Each of them will be awarded funds from 200,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan.
The Nonprofit Project Competition was organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau and Shenzhen Media Group and launched in August.
A total of 292 nonprofit projects across the country entered the competition.
