Medical Fund for Needy Chinese Children

Dear Donors,

We hope you all had great holidays and wish you and your family a happy new year. As we start 2017, we want to thank you all for your support in the past year and hope you will continue to follow our progress in helping children who are in need to fight their illnesses and, in some cases, even save their lives.

As many of you may already know, A Life A Time is organized and run by volunteers. We have no paid employees, which enables us to maintain low administrative expenses of only 0.9% of 2016 contributions, with the remaining 99.1% of donations going directly to help children. We publish our financials every two months to ensure all donations and their uses are transparent for our donors. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions regarding your donations or your desire to help any particular children.

A Life A Time is very fortunate to have many volunteers both in America and China, some of whom spend time working on a regular basis and others who have helped when needed. Many of these volunteers have been working with the organization since its founding.  We want to use this opportunity to extend our appreciation to these volunteers.

In this report, we would like to give our special thanks to Lian Zhao, an active volunteer at A Life A Time since July 2009, who spent time to have an interview with us to give you a close look of our volunteers and what makes them continue to devote their free time to A Life A Time.

Lian joined A Life A Time in July 2009 when she had her first child. A friend from her high school recommended A Life A Time and, as a first time mother, she wanted to do something to help children who were in need. Her primary job at A Life A Time involves handling applications. She collects applications submitted by organizations and volunteers in China, including supporting materials that verify the child and family information to ensure the applicant meets A Life A Time’s requirements for assistance. Once all necessary information is collected, she then posts it to A Life A Time’s forum for its elected members to vote whether to provide support, the amount to be offered and other related considerations. Lian is also responsible for following up with the applicant to obtain all related medical information.

Lian told us that there has not been any singular memorable experience for her during her time volunteering for A Life A Time. Every application has touched her heart because every child who has sought medical aid from us has had a story involving how the child and his parents have fought to have a better life and how unrelated people have tried to help. “Every application is a story that can be written into a book.” Lian is also deeply affected by front-line volunteers in China who help needy families directly. “They often face many challenges and even doubts from their families and the families in need, but they never give up.”

We asked Lian whether working with A Life A Time has made an impact in her life and whether she will continue to work for the organization. “Happiness is not based on material possessions. Working as a volunteer at A Life A Time has made me realize that I should treasure everything I have and to differentiate what I need and what I want. All the experiences I have had working at A Life A Time has made me more positive during those times I face my own challenges.” Lian continued, “Working at A Life A Time has become a part of my life. As a volunteer, the most challenging part of my role is to be persistent. There are times I get emotional by a particular child or I get tired of the administrative work while trying to balance my commitment with my regular life. However, after all these years, I have learned not to let my own emotions interfere with my volunteer work. I always remain calm in order to seek the best for the child and to help run the organization. We are not chasing praises but seeking satisfaction from our contributions.” 

In the new year, please continue to follow us on the Globalgiving platform and on our website http://alifeatime.org/cn/default.aspx. We look forward to having your continued support.

Sincerely,

A Life A Time Foundation