The “Shine IN Hongqiao” International Volunteer Service Alliance has added three new members on its first anniversary, bringing together Chinese and foreign volunteers and allowing kindness without borders to spread across the international community, officials said at a commemorative meeting.
As an important public welfare platform for the international community building of Hongqiao Subdistrict, the alliance has expanded from 13 to 16 member units over the past year. Together, they have carried out more than 100 volunteer activities covering environmental protection, health, culture and other fields, serving residents of all ages and groups in the community.
Unlike traditional volunteer services, the alliance’s highlight is its ability to break down language and cultural barriers, creating a new international public welfare model featuring “shared resources, joint project building, and coordinated services.” From the “Four-Grid Friendly” initiative precisely linking community grids, to “Volunteer Shops” spreading goodwill on Golden City Road; from the youth cross-generational companionship of the Bloodline.Y team, to the heartwarming efforts of the Leo Club in helping children with congenital heart disease – each of these well-established public welfare projects has transformed the alliance’s original aspiration of “uniting Chinese and foreign forces to build a better community” into a visible, tangible warmth on the streets of Hongqiao.
Ashish Maskay, a national “Most Beautiful Volunteer,” founder of Bloodline charity organization, and recipient of Shanghai’s “Magnolia Gold Award,” said that the alliance has made public welfare no longer a solitary fight. More and more expat residents are actively engaging in community welfare, and the alliance has become a reliable platform for caring people from China and abroad to spread warmth, pooling cross-border compassion.
At the event, three new organizations joined the alliance. They are Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai Jianqing Experimental School, and Shanghai Mengyue Kunqu Peng-Style Art Research Center.
