Milk of kindness

In the past, when companies wanted to extend their help to poor students who could not afford a college education, the most common way was donating money.

Yet, is simply a financial donation the best way to help them? Do students really feel comfortable by merely receiving money? Is there another way to help them get rid themselves of poverty and win economic independence?

"We don't need people's sympathy," said Tang Jiaguo, a junior student with China University of Petroleum (CUP), in a CCTV interview earlier this year.

"We want a work opportunity to gain financial payback and prove our ability."

Born to a poverty-stricken family in the rural area of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Tang has spent two Spring Festivals at school because he could not afford the railway tickets from Beijing to his hometown.

Tang's words were on the mind of a domestic company, Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd (Yili), when it prepared to launch a corporate social responsibility program in Chinese universities.

This May, after half a year's preparation, the milk sponsor of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games initiated its educational aid program at Tang's school.

Rather than merely donating money, Yili found a way to help poor college students like Tang make money through their own efforts.

The company established a fund at the school to offer internships and part-time jobs to poor students from low-income families, and selected 12 students as the first group to help.

Every student under Yili's aid program has a 300-yuan basic salary and a 600-yuan bonus every month.

Their jobs include helping with marketing research and sales of Yili's milk products.

To help the students grasp marketing and sales skills, the company will give systematic training.

"We intend to provide these poor students not only financial support, but also a practice platform to apply business knowledge and enhance sales and marketing skills," says Zhang Jianqiu, vice-president of Yili group.

"We believe this experience will enhance their comprehensive ability and benefit their careers after graduation," Zhang says.

"Yili's aid program offers us a opportunity to create value through our own efforts, to earn money instead of passively receiving donations," says Cao Zhe, a student with China University of Petroleum, who is one of the beneficiaries of Yili's aid program.

The company says the part-time job program also serves as a channel for other students to extend helping hands by just buying milk products.

"As an ordinary student, what we can do for them is really limited, but buying milk is within our economic capacity," says Wei Situ, a student with CUP.

Wei bought a box of milk from his classmate Cao Zhe, who is under the Yili's aid program. In so doing he got a T-shirt with the signature of Olympic champion Liu Xiang from Yili company.

The students under Yili's aid program also have obligations to join environmental protection and charitable activities the company organizes, as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympic publicity campaign.

"I hope more students can join Yili's charity activity to enlarge our volunteer team and we will not be alone when we go to visit orphans in rural areas and the elderly in nursing homes," says Tang Jiaguo, team leader of Yili's volunteer's group.

(China Daily 06/25/2007 page8)