Poor cash in on charity bank’s kindness
Published: January 9, 2006
A “Charity Bank” in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, exchanges love and kindness instead of cash and checks.
More than 200 people have visited the 20-square-meter Charity Bank in Nanhu Street since it opened on January 4, donating 20,000 yuan (2,500 U.S. dollars) in cash and 1,000 items worth 40,000 yuan (5,000 U.S. dollars), China Daily reported on Monday.
“Most of them have donated things they no longer need, and sometimes they designate what kind of people they want to give the items to,” the newspaper quoted Wang Lei, manager of the bank and director of the Nanhu Street Community Administration Committee, as saying.
Wang said people can get deposit cards from the bank which record the help they have given and the people they have helped.
She said the bank has given out half of the donations received to people who have asked for help. Senior citizens living alone and migrant groups in her community are the target groups, as well as those hit by emergencies.
According to Wang, the bank’s management team, selected by the community, has recorded every detail of the bank’s input and output which will be made public on a regular basis. “All the donations given to the bank will be used properly. Those who donate cash or items have the right to know where their donations have gone,” said Wang.
The bank also assesses those who apply for help in order to guarantee that all donations are given to those truly in need.
Nanhu Street, one of the less-developed communities in Nanjing, has seen a large proportion of its residents laid off. Many people living there are migrant workers who don’t earn enough money to live on.
China Daily said similar non-governmental charity organizations have been reported recently in several other provinces too.
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