Huang Xiaoming (黄晓明) and the Chinese Social Assistance Foundation recently announced three core projects Huang Xiaoming’s charity fund will focus on in the remainder of 2014. Huang explained how he got his start in philanthropic work after helping rebuild a school in Sichuan after the 2008 earthquake. Although he had the energy and commitment to carry out more charitable projects, without the structure and organization of a “foundation” these sorts of activities were hard to sustain. The Chinese Social Assistance Foundation created the “Tomorrow” charity fund this spring as a structured outlet for Huang to give back.
Currently, one of his main initiatives is called “ Warm Seventeen Cities” (温暖十七城市). He notably helped a Shandong 14 year-old girl, who had been caring for her bedridden father by herself since she was six. Huang, from Shandong himself, wants to be able to use his fame and wealth for good, especially in his home province. Another one of his projects focuses on serving the elderly suffering from Alzheimer’s, with a focus on preventing the elderly from getting lost or helping those who are lost find their way home. Finally, he still personally runs the “Under the starfish” (下一 颗海星），which serves vulnerable disadvantaged groups through giving RMB 100,000 grants twice a year.
Huang decided to call this the “Under the starfish” project after being very touched hearing the story “One starfish” (一 颗海星) in which someone sees many starfish stranded on the beach, and decides to pick one and up and throws it back to sea, bringing a big change to the starfish’s life. Huang hopes to be able to use his fame from acting, singing and modeling for good, to give those in need a helping hand. He hopes that his actions will remind other celebrities and public figures that they have a social responsibility to give back.
