The Wenchuan Earthquake Disabled and Orphaned Children Relief Fund, a part of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund, plans to build 100 more "Care Islands" in Sichuan's earthquake areas by the end of this year.
Yang Lan, a media celebrity and initiator of WEDOCRF, said that the Care Island program will mainly be aimed at pre-school children and schoolchildren. She added that apart from libraries and sports equipment, other activities such as training and interactive games will be designed to improve the learning environment and enrich the extracurricular activities for children in Sichuan.
Each Care Islands, which costs about CNY100,000 to set up, can accommodate up to 30 children and about three teachers or volunteers. Yang says with the onset of winter, WEDOCRF will also donate over 3,000 down coats for children in remote areas in Beichuan and Aba, and offer recovery fund subsidies for 114 disabled children in Deyang.
The Care Island program is sponsored by Tetrapak China, which has donated a total of CNY8 million for the second phase construction of Care Islands and has promised to help 10,000 students in the earthquake hit areas to complete their senior middle school studies.
