Tina Chen
A CHARITY program in Shenzhen to help disabled people start a business or find a job was awarded one of the best 10 projects entered in the China Social Innovation Award yesterday in Beijing.
The China Social Innovation Award, launched in May, was organized by China Central Compilation and Translation Bureau and Peking University to honor those contributing to social innovation.
The Disabled Social Enterprise Incubator Project, initiated by Shenzhen Canyou Group and Shenzhen Zheng Weining Charity Fund, had helped 1,162 disabled people find high-tech employment with 25 enterprises founded in a number of cities including Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai.
It had adopted the proven practice of the Shenzhen Canyou Group and had developed into a group with 23 high-tech companies hiring about 1,200 disabled people after 10 years.
Shenzhen Canyou s growth was a very valuable model because it did not rely on a penny from the government or bank loans, said Zheng Weining, founder of Shenzhen Canyou Group and the only presenter in a wheelchair at the awards.
There are about 10,000 disabled people graduating from colleges each year but they can hardly get a job, said Zheng.
The project was outstanding not only in China but also around the world, said one of the jurors, Xu Yongguang.
The project had also won the Innovative Spirit Award by Shenzhen Municipal Government and the Second China Poverty Alleviation Award in 2010.
A total of 161 projects in domains such as protecting disadvantaged groups, social welfare services, nonprofit support, community service, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and industrial self-regulation had applied for the award.
Altogether, 20 projects were in the finals.
