Since May 25, many areas of Guangxi province have been suffering from extreme precipitation and floodings. The heavy rains have caused local rivers to rise rapidly, quickly exceeding the warning line, and many roads have been flooded. The floods and rain have affected over 350,000 people in total, with nine dead, three missing, and over 62,000 waiting for rescue and resettlement.
On May 29, the National Disaster Reduction Committee and the Emergency Management Department launched an emergency plan in response to the severe storms and floods occurring in Guilin and Changzhou, Guangxi. At the same time, a fundraising drive for the disaster-affected areas was launched on the Easy Fundraising platform of Easy Charity (轻松筹•轻松公益), one of China’s major fundraising platforms. The call for funds soon attracted great attention and support from the platform’s 600 million users, and was spread through WeChat and social media. By the afternoon of May 30, the project had received donations from 78,245 people and raised a total of 1.5 million yuan, surpassing the previous record for the largest amount raised in the shortest period of time. The funds are being used to provide sleeping bags, folding beds, and relief packages to ensure people’s lives in affected areas can go back to normal as soon as possible.
This case can be considered to be another demonstration of the great popularity and success of online fundraising in China.
A screenshot from the platform after the end of the fundraising drive.
