REGIONAL> Major News
Shandong charity work in healthy state
By Zhao Ruixue (China Daily Shandong Bureau)
Updated: 2009-05-11 14:11

Shandong's efforts in promoting charity work has seen an essential charity network established, covering the entire province, right down to villages and communities.

The province's charity conference，which was held on Monday, aimed at recognizing charity work achievements and honoring those who have made great contributions,

To date, charity branches have been built in 1,669 rural communities, accounting for 86.4 percent of the total number of charity organizations.

"We have 46 charitable foundations, of which 24 are public offerings," Zhang Guochen, director of the province's department of civil affairs, said at a news conference.

According to Zhang, Shandong has collected a total fund worth 5.29 billion yuan since 2004. The province donated over 4.3 billion yuan to last year's Sichuan earthquake relief.

Five charitable projects and more than 20 regularly held activities aimed at helping all walks of life including students, the elderly and the physically challenged, have benefited 3.7 million people so far.

The "One-Day" donation campaign, for example, has exerted deep influence in the province and has received great support.