We are grateful for an amazing Year of the Pig 2019

Shanghai Sunrise is grateful for an amazing Year of the Pig 2019 and wishes you a very Happy Spring Festival and Year of the Rat!

With the new lunar year just around the corner, Shanghai Sunrise would like to take a moment to reflect on the past twelve months. Together with our sponsors, volunteers and partners we achieved a great deal in 2019, paving the way to a brighter future for many disadvantaged young people in Shanghai.

Here are some of the memorable highlights for 2019:

Shanghai Sunrise won the “2016-2018 Excellent Charity Volunteers” Award

Every two years, the Shanghai Charity Foundation and the Shanghai Charity Volunteer Service Corps honor the work of outstanding charities and their volunteers. We were thrilled and humbled by this recognition of our important work, which would not have been possible without the tremendous support from all of our volunteers. This award goes out to all of you!

We welcomed 127 new students to the Shanghai Sunrise scholarship program

Shanghai Sunrise volunteers visited over 180 families, who had applied for the Shanghai Sunrise scholarship program, to assess their financial need and individual circumstances. This selection process was again led by Teacher Ding, who co-founded Shanghai Sunrise in 1996 and has been volunteering ever since. Last year, 127 students were selected and thus were able to continue their high school or university education in September. We welcome these motivated young adults to the Shanghai Sunrise family!

Two big events brought students and their sponsors together

Last year, we organized a “Meet Your Student” event in May and held our “Pairing Ceremony” for new students in November. These are unique opportunities for sponsors to meet with their sponsored students face to face and to witness the impact of their donation first-hand. These events also build a sense of community between all Shanghai Sunrise students, their sponsors and our volunteers.

Shanghai Sunrise Career Day 2019 guided our students into the future

We strongly believe in education outside of the classroom and in July, Shanghai Sunrise sponsored a Career Day gathering of students and various leaders working in Shanghai. We organize this annual workshop to offer our students first-hand information about professional development and employment prospects. In addition to hearing inspiring stories and advice, students also practiced writing job applications and preparing for job interviews.

Shanghai Sunrise participated in the 2019 EGG walkathon

Six volunteers represented Shanghai Sunrise at last year’s EGG Walkathon in May and raised over 33,000 RMB to keep underprivileged kids in school. This annual fundraising event is one of Shanghai’s biggest, and challenges volunteer teams to collect donations in exchange for walking 52 km within 12 hours on behalf of their selected charities. Congratulations and a big thank you to the team for fundraising and pushing their physical limits for Shanghai Sunrise!

We put the “Fun” in Fundraising and made over 50,000 RMB

Shanghai Sunrise promises to give 100% of scholarship donations to our students, and our small team of fundraising volunteers work tirelessly to collect money to help cover our program expenses. In 2019, we collaborated with generous sponsors from the local F&B community in a series of fundraising events. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the wonderful businesses who made these events possible and to everyone who donated to our cause. Highlights include a wine tasting, concerts, a spin-a-thon, a ghost tour, a quiz night and a fabulous scavenger hunt.

Keep an eye out for more Shanghai Sunrise events in 2020!

COLORS OF MODERN CHINA raised 157,000+ RMB for Shanghai Sunrise

Astrid Krehan, a professional photographer, exhibited her contemporary work at a prestigious Shanghai gallery in November. Astrid, who is also our Board Member and Lifetime Platinum Benefactor, generously donated all proceeds from art sales to Shanghai Sunrise. We thank her for her generosity.

Shanghai Sunrise met the public at various markets and bazaars

Throughout the year, Shanghai Sunrise volunteers attended numerous bazaars, coffee mornings and Christmas markets. It was lovely to meet old and new friends, to share our mission to create access to education to underprivileged youth in Shanghai and to have many of you buy our merchandise. We want to thank everyone who came by our stand and made a purchase. We look forward to seeIng you again in 2020!

We are proud of what we achieved in 2019 and hope 2020 will be equally successful. All our sponsors, volunteers and partners have our sincere gratitude – thank you for your ongoing support and dedication.

We wish you all a wonderful Spring Festival and all the best for the Year of the Rat!

About Shanghai Sunrise

Shanghai Sunrise is a volunteer-led charity creating access to education through scholarships for underprivileged youth in Shanghai. Since 1996, Shanghai Sunrise has raised over 30 million RMB for high school and university scholarships, helping over 3,000 students and their families.

With your help, we can continue to make a difference in our community!