Showing posts with label Beijing Community Dinner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beijing Community Dinner. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Getting Involved in the Nonprofit Community in Beijing - An Update

A while back I posted about different venues for getting involved in the nonprofit community for those living in Beijing. Some of these are no longer around, like Wokai Beijing Volunteer Chapters Drinks for a Better World event now that Wokai has closed shop. But others are going strong and there are some other emerging venues worthy of mention:

1) Beijing Community Dinner – BCD was started in 2007 and has been organizing dinners every two weeks at a Beijing restaurant specializing in Chinese regional cuisine.  Interested individuals can go for a meal and hear someone from a Chinese nonprofit talk about their work.  Diners pay for the meal and are encouraged to add a donation which goes to the nonprofit.  BCD has also organized several fieldtrips to visit selected nonprofits in Beijing. To get on their mailing list, go to their website to sign up.

BCD almost always gets very interesting speakers, many from Chinese NGOs, and is committed to making their events as inclusive as possible by keeping costs down, and is always looking for volunteers to help with their events.  To give you an idea of the events they put on, I post their most recent event here:

Migrant worker issues continues to remain on the agenda of the Chinese government, especially as we start the NPC and CPPCC sessions in Beijing this week.  We have 2 speakers from organizations providing services and legal aid to migrant workers.

- Mr Li (Tao):"Nong Min Gong Xie Zuo Zhe (Helper/Collaborator for Migrant Workers)"The Facilitator http://www.facilitator.ngo.cn/ provides all kinds of services(i.e. legal aid, entertainment performances, training lectures, study groups etc.) for migrant workers to help them better integrate with cities where they work.  

- Mr Zhang (Zhi Qiang): Beijing Zhiqiang Legal Consultancy Service Center "Da Gong Zhi You(Friends of Migrant Workers)   http://www.gmxd.org.cn/ offers legal aids for migrant workers and he also cares about the development for schools built in cities for children of migrant workers.


Date: Sat, March 9

Please RSVP with us by Thurs, March 7 so we know how many people to expect.  Restaurant venue details will be sent separately.

As usual, we will have Crazy Bake bread for sale (RMB25 per loaf).  Enjoy bread freshly-made by patients at the Chaoyang Mental Health Clinic in Tongzhou.

Heads up for our next dinner (Sat, March 23)

In the current age of collective and industrialized breeding, animal welfare seems to take second place to production schedules and profit.  We invite a representative from Compassion in World Farming (CIWF, http://www.ciwf.org.uk) to speak to BCD about global trends and China's role in food production.
2) FYSE -  Andrea Krause has been working hard over the last few years to expand the trainings and talks offered by FYSE and regularly hosts valuable training sessions and talks (full disclosure: I gave one on NGOs in China last month). Following is a post about this month's talk, given by no less than Andrea herself.

[Beijing] Introduction to social enterprises in China
March 27, 2013

RSVP required to events@fyse.org

FYSE invites you to learn about and discuss the current state of, as well as challenges and opportunities for social enterprise in China.

China’s development is at a critical stage. The country faces increasing social, economic and environmental challenges in diverse areas such as education, healthcare and water. Social entrepreneurs are providing solutions that tackle these challenges by combining a social mission with a sustainable business model.

On March 27, 2013  FYSE invites you to discuss the current state of social enterprises in China featuring the findings from FYSE's 2012 China Social Enterprise Report.

The Speakers
Andrea Lane, Founder and Executive Director, FYSE
Andrea founded FYSE in 2008, and grew it into a cutting-edge organization that currently provides support to social entrepreneurs in 10 countries in Asia. Andrea has extensive start-up and management experience in various Asian countries including Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

FYSE's mission is to support social entrepreneurs who have the potential to significantly address social and environmental challenges. The organization has a track record of managing regional and national projects in Asia through multi-stakeholder collaborations with a wide network of partners including companies, educational institutions and nongovernmental organizations.
3) Public Interest Happy Hour - For those interesting in learning more about the nonprofit space in a more casual setting, this event may be just the ticket. It's a new event being organized by Aurora Bewicke, who works for the international NGO, International Bridges for Justice. Here are the details:




Public Interest Happy Hour

The Year of the Snake has arrived and it is once again warm enough to venture outside. In celebration of the warming weather, I’m loosely organizing (in other words, sending out this email) a happy hour for Tuesday, March 12, 2013, from 7-9pm. The theme is public interest, with an aim of bringing together those working in NGOs, rule of law, embassies, etc., but feel free to pass the invite along to anyone who would like to come.

Location: Bar Veloce
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Time: 7-9

The last happy hour had about 20 people and I assume this one will also gather a good crowd. If you get a chance, send me an RSVP (aurora_bewicke@yahoo.com) so that I can let the bar know approximately how many to expect, but feel free to decide last minute as well.

If you wish to be removed from future emails, just let me know.

For directions and information about the location:
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/listings/restaurants/wine_spirits/has/bar-veloce/
  • Sanlitun 三里
  • Courtyard 4 (opposite west entrance of 1949 - The Hidden City), Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
  • 朝阳区工体北路4号院(1949西门对面
  • 6586 1006
Best wishes,
Aurora

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Getting involved in the nonprofit community in Beijing

January 5, 2011

Happy new year!  For those interested in getting involved in Beijing’s nonprofit, charitable community, but may not have the Chinese language skills needed to participate in Chinese NGO activities, there are a growing number of groups and events that seek to bring together both foreigners and Chinese in helping China’s nonprofit community.  The following list consists of organizations/events that I, or others I know, have participated in.  It is certainly not a comprehensive list, and if anyone knows of other groups and events that are not included here, please contact me and I’ll make sure they get on my next list.

Beijing Community Dinner – BCD was started in 2007 and has been organizing dinners every two weeks at a Beijing restaurant specializing in Chinese regional cuisine.  Interested individuals can go for a meal and hear someone from a Chinese nonprofit talk about their work.  Diners pay for the meal and are encouraged to add a donation which goes to the nonprofit.  BCD has also organized several fieldtrips to visit selected nonprofits in Beijing.

To be added to their mailing list, email bcd@beijingcommunitydinner.org.  Their website is http://www.beijingcommunitydinner.org.

Chi Fan for Charity – Chi Fan was started by Michael Crain to bring together local opinion leaders, celebrities and other individuals who get together to share a meal at some of Beijing’s hippest restaurants.  The proceeds go to local charities such as the Dandelion School for Migrant Children, Prevention through Education which works on HIV/AIDS awareness, and Rural Women.

To sign up for their events, go to: http://chifanforcharity.org/index.aspx.

Compassion for Migrant Children – this nonprofit was started by Jonathan Hursh in 2006 to help China’s urban migrant children by offering social and educational programs.  CMC has also started a collaborative network called the Migrant Resource Network to link together organizations and resources to benefit migrant children and their communities.  They offer numerous opportunities for people to get involved in helping migrant children ranging from paying jobs to volunteer and internship opportunities.  See their website at: www.cmc-china.org.

Crazybake – this nonprofit organization was started in 2004 by several expatriates who wanted to use baking to improve the lives of the mentally ill in Beijing.  The organization works with the Chaoyang Mental Health Center, a privately-run organization, to provide therapeutic work for its patients as well as a source of income.  They make delicious white farmer’s bread and sweet challah bread for 20 RMB a loaf, and bagels which cost 10 RMB for a bag of 3 plain bagels.  Those interested in purchasing bread from Crazybake can contact Natascha Prigge at 135-2089-3359 or email pils.prigge@yahoo.de.

Roundabout Charity Distribution Store -- Roundabout was started by Leslie Simpson as a way to collect gently used clothing and household items for redistribution to communities in need across the country. You can also shop their Shunyi store for paintings, sofas, and other secondhand treasures. Goods can be donated there or at their downtown drop-off location at Links Moving (9B, Tower D, Ginza Mall at Dongzhimen). Volunteers welcome.
  • Roundabout, Kaifa Jie, Xi Baixinzhuang, Houshayu, Shunyi, near Mrs Shannen's Bagels, Shunyi District
  • 顺义区开发街后沙峪顺义区
  • Mon-Sat 9.30am-6pm
  • 13718 777 761 ( English ) 13718 053 814 (Chinese)
  • Website: http://www.roundaboutchina.com
Wokai Beijing Volunteer Chapter’s Drinks for a Better World (DFBW) – the Beijing Volunteer Chapter of Wokai, a U.S.-based nonprofit that does microlending in China, organizes a bimonthly get together called Drinks for a Better World in which people come together for drinks and to hear speakers on a range of development issues and social causes. 

To get on the mailing list for these events, email the Chapter president, Eric Pasewalk at epasewalk@yahoo.com.