USTC Alumni Foundation - Goodwill Fund Raising

(a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in USA)

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A Difference Goodwill Can Make ========================= Dear Fellow USTCers, This spring of 2006, Goodwill is in the air. It was reported in the news media that -- * Tsinghua University started calling for its alumni to support their students in extreme financial hardship; * Shanghai Jiaotong University just issued its first alumni sponsored Goodwill Scholarship. * USTC Alumni Foundation (est 1995) is in the SEVENTH year of offering Goodwill Scholarship covering more than 1% of current student population in USTC. Once again, we, the USTCers with big hearts have led the way by establishing the Goodwill Program back in 1999. It is well known that while China is enjoying its status as an economic superpower, the ever increasing gap between rich and poor has brought serious hardship to many current USTC students from poor families. You often hear stories that new students can not even afford train tickets to their dream school, not to mention paying the high tuition in Chinese standard. The following is a typical answer to our survey among students at bottom 1% in terms of family income level in Grade 2005 -- 父母均为农民，没有固定收入，父亲身体不好，有心脏病和高血脂，还有风湿，母亲身体状况也很差，心脏不好，还有严重的静脉曲张，前些日子又查出有甲亢，一直靠药物维持，加之近几年来家里不断出事，本来就不好的家境更是雪上加霜，再加上还要供应我这个大学生，妹妹也在上高中，家境就更差了。 Many similar stories are featured at http://www.ustcaf.org/goodwill/2005/candidate.html They still have big dreams, but their hearts are burdened with financial difficulties. That was why the USTC Alumni Foundation has set up the Goodwill Scholarship to help financially challenged students at USTC. Since 1999, Goodwill Scholarship has helped relieving financial burdens for hundreds of students, and some of them have finished their study at USTC with pride and honor. Their own words tell the best story -- 我连续4年获得爱心奖学金（99～02），她对我的帮助非常大，主要解决了我大学期间的生活开支，我衷心地感谢海外校友基金会的无私帮助，也希望早日有机会、有能力可以反过来帮助科大的师弟师妹。 A collection of testimony from past Goodwill Scholarship awardees can be found at http://spaces.msn.com/ustcaf/blog/cns!37281CE66A44B4B0!188.entry Every year, USTCAF cooperates with USTC administration to pick 20-30 students from the freshman class with verified financial difficulties. Then USTCAF solicits one-on-one sponsorship to support the students for all 4 years in USTC. It just takes $300/year to sponsor a student which is equivalent to RMB200/month barely the minimum living expenses in today's China. Since 1999, thousands of USTC alumni have poured in their support to the USTCAF Goodwill Program, you may help in the following ways -- 1. Make an one-time donation to Goodwill Fund so that USTCAF can keep expanding the program to cover more needy students. Just go to http://www.ustcaf.org/donation/ and select "Goodwill Fund". 2. If you can afford $300/year (including potential company matching gift), you can become a Goodwill Sponsor to support one student for 4 years. If both you and the student agree, you can maintain contact with the student to provide mentorship in addition to financial aid. 3. You and your classmates can pool resources together to sponsor a student, for example, more than 20 students from class 978 (though most of them are still in graduate school) have pledged to donate $40/person/year to sponsor two students in Class 2005. To sponsor a student, please select a candidate from http://www.ustcaf.org/goodwill/2005/candidate.html So far 23 out of 33 candidates for 2005 Goodwill Sponsorship are already picked. Besides the Goodwill Sponsorship, since 2005, USTCAF also compensates the travel expense for about 200 new students from poor or western regions via its Goodwill Express program. More info is available at -- http://www.ustcaf.org/2005/gwe If you are not familiar with the USTC Alumni Foundation, we are a non-profit organization founded by overseas alumni in 1995 independent of USTC committed to networking global alumni resources to promote the prestige of USTC and excellence of its people. During past 11 years, we have raised more than $568K from thousands of USTCers, friends and companies. More than $260K has been used to honor and help students and teachers at USTC. With IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, all donation to USTCAF is TAX-deductible. USTCAF is proud of its clean and transparent operation, all of its transactions are posted online for public scrutiny. USTCAF has been run by unpaid volunteers elected by all of its donors. Operation cost (mostly credit card charge, mailing fees) has been kept below 1% in recent years. Dear Fellow USTCers -- Many years in the past, on the peaceful and beautiful USTC campus, we have received the second-to-none college education, formed lifetime friendship, shared stories of love and bitterness. We were not so rich, but we all had big dreams and big hearts. Today, our goodwill is making difference for those with the same big dreams but burdened hearts. We are also helping USTC to recruit outstanding highschool students, retain talented young faculty members, encounrage dedicated teachers which will shape the future of USTC. Many years in the future, our children and even grandchildren will tell us with admiration -- "Wow, you went to the best university in China!" That's what USTC Alumni Foundation is all about. Thank you for taking part in this journey at http://www.ustcaf.org/ With best regards, USTCAF Governing Board PS: To make a tax-deductible contribution, please go to http://www.ustcaf.org/donation/ If you want to make stock donation, please contact Zhang Shangyou(771) at szhang -AT- udel.edu Or if you are busy, just send a check payable to "USTC Alumni Foundation" to USTCAF, c/o Mr. Bing Zhang, 307 Blue Jay Dr, Hockessin, DE 19707, USA (Please also write your email address, USTC class number and your Chinese name on the check.) Your contribution will -- * Help USTC recruit the most promising young kids; * Help relieve financial burden for some of these young kids; (in this catergory, please credit your donation to "Goodwill Fund") * Reward those excel in teaching those young kids; * Reward those promising young faculty members lifting USTC's reputation as a leader in Science and Technology.

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