Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
- Why should I donate money to help one orphanage when there are so many orphanages with abandoned children in China?
Because through the Hengdong Charity Fund you'll provide focused assistance that in the end will directly improve a lot of lives. This particular orphanage has long suffered from a severe lack of resources and this kind of help provides a means to address big problems in a way that is effectively individualized and context-sensitive. - What will the money I donate be used for?
We will support the ophanage in ways that will directly benefit the children there. We are presently working with the orphanage to fund construction of two activity rooms, purchase more than 30 new wooden beds and cribs, and to furnish a kitchen | area in a new orphanage building that is nearing completion. We have been considering other specific projects such as furnishing one or more of the following: a bottle preparation roo
m, a clinic room, a physical therapy room, or an incubator room. - Who is behind the Hengdong Charity Fund and how is it managed?
The Hengdong Charity Fund was established in 2005 by parents of adopted children from the Hengdong SWI and they are linked by a private Internet news group, which has members in the U.S., U.K., Spain, and Denmark. The fund itself is a special Hengdong account set up as part of the larger Chinese Children Charities Fund (CCCF). Donations are tax deductible and 100% will go to orphanage help, as CCCF administrative costs are covered from other sources. The Chinese Children Charities Fund is affiliated with the non-profit agency Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI), which is widely recognized as among the most reliable and reputable groups working with Chinese foreign adoption. - Is the Hengdong Charity Fund a major charitible organization? No. More accurately we are a small but determined group of adoptive parents linked by having children from the same troubled orphanage. But our affiliation with the larger CCAI and its CCCF allows us the flexibility to handle both the relatively modest donations we solicit from other Hengdong-connected families as well as any larger donations, all donations tax deductible.
- How will proceeds from the fund be handled in China?
Proceeds from the Hengdong Charity Fund are not intended to go directly to orphanage or local officials. Rather our goal is to fund projects that have direct benefit to the children at the orphanage. This is handled by Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI), widely recognized as among the most reliable and reputable charitible groups working with abandoned Chinese children and CCAI has now re-established contact with orphanage. In handling the fund's present planned contribution toward activity rooms and other furnishings in the new orphanage building, for example, CCAI is arranging to direct money to the orphange through the Hunan Department of Civil Affairs and then expenditures will be monitored by third party representatives on site. - I think I saw this somewhere else on this web site but, again, how do I make a direct donation? To make a donation simply send a check for any amount to Hengdong Fund, Chinese Children Charities, CCAI, 6920 S. Holly Circle, Centennial, CO 80112. Even easier, especially for donors outside the U.S., donations can be made to the fund by credit card using the secure online form at https://www.chinesechildren.org/Charity/DonationForm.aspx . Just type "Hengdong Fund" into the space on the form for Specified Project.
