Charity program helps teenagers finish high school

A program that helps underprivileged teenagers finish high school was launched earlier this month.

The program, Reach the Future, will raise funding for 30 teenagers and help them finish high school, according to Shanghai Landseed International Hospital, the first Taiwan-invested hospital on the mainland and initiator of the program.

The government provides nine years of compulsory education, which does not include high school. One year tuition costs about 3,000 yuan ($490) in Shanghai.

So far, the program has raised donations for five student scholarships. All donations will go to Shanghai Sunrise Foundation, a non-profit charity group helping to lift families from the poverty cycle through educational sponsorships.

More than 1,800 underprivileged students in the city have received scholarships through this foundation over the past 18 years.

The donation hotline is 021-61957888.