Microbloggers to set up special fund with One Foundation

Xinhua, February 13, 2011

Bloggers on Saturday pledged to continue a rescue campaign and announced a plan to set up a special fund in cooperation with the One Foundation organization to save child beggars.

"We didn't expect it would be such a big campaign when we initiated the microblog, and now we want to put it on the right track," said Yu Jianrong, of the Rural Development Institute of China Academy of Social Sciences, who created the microblog called "Street Photos to Rescue Child Beggars" in t.sina.com.cn.

The microblog, which registered on Jan. 25, has gained more than 218,000 followers, many of whom are police officers across China. More than 3,000 pictures have been posted on the microblog.

"The campaign needs to be more sustainable and more organized, which demands management and money. That's why we are here, planning to set up a fund," said Yang Peng from the One Foundation, which was founded by film action star Jet Li.

"One Foundation does have the will to do it and the fund will be set up as soon as possible," Yang said.

Some 30 people, including foundation employees, celebrities, technical engineers, lawyers and journalists were present at a meeting convened in Beijing on Saturday to discuss future development of the rescue campaign.

"Microblogs are the new platform, which makes the impact greater than we

could imagine," Yu said at the meeting. "We want to arouse the attention of more people. And the pictures posted featuring beggar children could facilitate the rescue efforts of the police."