Shanghai Charity Foundation and United Way will launch projects about education, health and income with the research of social needs.

　　"Sprout Preschool Education Program–Early Childhood Development Initiative for Migrant Children" and”Community Care for the Elderly Alzheimer's Sufferers" are the first term projects launched.

　　( 1 ) Sprout Preschool Education Program–Early Childhood Development Initiative for Migrant Children

　　Since the opening policy, Shanghai has made considerable progress in preschool education, nevertheless, with birth peak and an increasing number of migrant workers’children (3-6 years old), the existing preschool education resources are starting to be insufficient. Due to lacking resources, the children of migrant workers are not prepared to learn when the reach school age. Daycare centers, started to help relieve the increasing preschool readiness issues among the children of migrant workers, operate with limited resources and facilities, thereby adversely affecting the quality of those children’s preschool education.

　　Through in-depth research, Shanghai Charity Foundation found that currently the most pressing issues of daycare centers are the lack of caregivers’expertise and lack of teaching aids. Based on United Way’s Born Learning model,“Sprout Preschool Education Program”is an early learning initiative aimed to improve young migrant children’s educational environment. The Program is consisted of three actions:

　　1. "Soil Action"–training caregivers to equip them with more comprehensive professional skills and provide daycare centers with sufficient teaching aids.

　　2. "Rain Action"–providing children with painting utensils and books.

　　3. "Sunshine Action"–giving volunteers opportunities to help children while monitoring the project.

　　The entire project is projected to take three years, will fund 60 daycare centers and benefit approximately 6,000 children of migrant workers.

　　Goal: (1) Improve preschool readiness among the children of migrant workers by improving the teaching quality of caregivers. (2) Enhance the overall quality of the lives of the children of migrant workers.

　　Caring for our children encourages participation in the building of a better Shanghai. Loving out children is caring for Shanghai 's future.

　　( If you would like more information, please contact Joy Qiao, Senior Supervisor & Director Assistant of Fundraising Department, SCF, 86-21-61384351, joywawa1@hotmail.com)

　　(2) Community Care for the Elderly Alzheimer's Sufferers

　　In recent years, the number of individuals with Alzheimer's disease has increased year over year. China now has an average of 300,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s annually. With numbers like this, it is a startling reality that many people lack awareness of dementia-related diseases. Uninformed families miss the early warning signs of dementia causing delays in treatment. Families often times find themselves ill-equipped to address the real hardships associated with dementia-related diseases, causing great emotional and financial strain.

　　This project targets seniors living in the Chang Ning District. The plan is to educate the public, and provide professional training for family members of individuals suffering from the effects of Alzheimer's. After screening the community situation, and in accordance with requirements, the project will provide various forms of services for elderly Alzheimer's sufferers. The project projected to run for 3 years.

　　Goal: (1) Improve community awareness of Alzheimer. (2) Better equip the public to recognize the early warning signs of Alzheimer, thereby improving early treatment rates. (3) Provide caregivers with professional training and psychological support, helping them master the necessary care skills needed to maintain a healthy state of mind. (4) To an extent, reduce the burden on families affected by Alzheimer's, and help improve their quality of life.

　　(If you would like more information, please contact Frank Tang, the Executive Manager of Project Department, SCF, 86-21-61384326, sntang_sh@163.com)