Since the coronavirus outbreak, the faith-based Amity Foundation has been closely watching the situation and launched an emergency response mechanism on Chinese New Year's Eve to fight the epidemic jointly with the society.
Led by the China Christian Council & Three-Self Patriotic Movement (CCC&TSPM), the official churches around the country have actively participated in the joint efforts to support donation activities in stricken areas.
By 17:00 pm on January 30, 2020, the Amity Foundation had raised more than 32.56 million yuan (including pledged donations), according to its official WeChat platform announcement.
Love is rallying.
Since the Amity Foundation launched a special fund-raising campaign to help epidemic areas, many enterprises, groups, schools, and individuals have donated money through the organization. As a public welfare organization with 32 years of experience in humanitarian relief work, Amity Foundation's first-line outbreak project, launched on Tencent's platform, raised more than 6 million yuan in just 8 hours. On January 26, Huatai Securities announced the establishment of the "Yixinhuatai Public Health Special Fund" in cooperation with the Amity Foundation with a donation of 10 million yuan in the first phase.
The Chinese Christian community in action
According to CCC&TPSM, churches and church institutions around the country also showed their support. Shanghai YMCA sponsored the establishment of the Shanghai Huatai Public Welfare Foundation for the first time through the Amity Foundation to help the epidemic area with a donation of 273,000 yuan. Churches such as Jinan Church and Wuxi Church have also donated to Amity Foundation, Sichuan Luzhou Rose Fund and Gansu Ganyu Fund, Kunshan Shangai public welfare fund and other special funds, in cooperation with several local churches so as to mobilize believers everywhere to actively participate in the donation activities in the affected areas. Among the loving donors of public welfare and other platforms, there are many Christian brothers and sisters who silently pray and bless the affected areas. CCC&TPSM are closely monitoring the development of the epidemic, encouraging churches and believers from all over the country to participate in projects to help the affected areas, and donating 500,000 yuan to jointly carry out projects with the Amity Foundation to help the affected areas.
Up to now, churches and church institutions and brothers and sisters around the country have accumulated more than one million yuan for the Amity Foundation aid project. "May this city be safe, may the motherland be safe" has become our common prayer.
- Translated by Charlie Li
