A disability service center in Jinan, Shandong launched a charity fundraising project to support the middle-aged with mental disorders.
The project named “Support Families With Mental Disabilities Who Are Hidden in Society” was released by the Faith & Hope & Love Disability Service Center on the Alipay platform on December 2, one day just before the 30th International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
According to the publicity page of the project, it aims to find middle-aged families with mental disabilities who are hidden in society and to build a community support network for these families in which the disabled are cared for by old relatives, to help them cope with the care difficulties caused by ageing.
People with mental disabilities include mental retardation, cerebral palsy coupled with mental retardation, Down syndrome, autism, and other types of illness. By 2010, the China Disabled Persons' Federation calculated, according to the data of the sixth national census and the second national sample survey of disabled people, that there were approximately 12 million people with mental disabilities in China.
The service period of the project lasts from December 1, 2021, to October 31, 2022, and the first month is to assess the demand. The recipients are 15 persons with mental disabilities aged over 30 in Jinan, Shandong province as well as their families. At that time, the donation will be used to provide subsidies for those families to realize the first 10-months of care service, daycare or outreach activities respectively.
On the day when the project was launched, the teachers and students at the center also went to the streets and communities to spread the donation campaign. After a day of effort, many people and merchants in the community spontaneously joined the queue of giving.
Currently, this charity project has raised about 20,000 yuan, reaching 9% of the donation target.
- Translated by Stephen Huang
