IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Adopt a panda

The Wolong Panda Club, a panda breeding institution, is calling for more people to adopt pandas, since the Sichuan province-based Wolong Nature Reserve fell on tough times in the wake of the May 12 earthquake.

A $6,000 donation to the Wolong Panda Club allows an individual or group to adopt a panda for a year, and lifelong adoption options also exist, varying in price according to individual animals' needs, the club said.

Fund for ailing children

The non-profit China Association of Social Workers has established the Aiding Fund for Ailing and Handicapped Children of Poor Families.

The Association said that it will raise money via its nationwide network of social workers and vowed to maintain financial transparency and fairness.

KFC cash donations

Fast food chain giant KFC announced recently that since it entered China in 1987, it has raised a total of 77 million yuan via cash donation boxes in its outlets.

The money, thanks to benevolent consumers and KFC staff, has been donated to charities, non-governmental organizations and environmental protection groups for various causes in China.

ABB aid for Sichuan

ABB, a leading Switzerland-based global power and automation technology group, recently donated a total of 4.88 million yuan to the Red Cross Society of China, the China Green Foundation and China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

The contributions will be used to support post-earthquake reconstruction projects in Wenchuan of Sichuan province, the anti-desertification project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and financially disadvantaged college students from poverty-stricken areas.

To date, ABB's total charitable donation towards residents and relief programs of local power facilities in the Sichuan disaster zone has reached 11.45 million yuan.

China quake charity

The China Charity Federation has signed an agreement with the Sichuan government to donate 400 million yuan for reconstruction projects in the province.

Thanks to a group of benevolent companies, the money will be used to build houses, schools, hospitals and welfare homes for earthquake victims.

(China Daily 01/19/2009 page8)