Community spirit: where to volunteer in Shanghai
Illustration: Jinna Kaneko
Get some good feels and give a little something back to the community at one of these local volunteering groups that are always on the lookout for help.
Stepping Stones China
Stepping Stones provides migrant and rural schools with volunteer English teachers. They also operate the I Care Project to help improve the vision of disadvantaged children in China, and the Stepping Up digital literacy programme to help improve the technical skills of migrant schoolchildren. There are lots of ways you can get involved alongside teaching, including fundraising, translation, photography and more.
Find out more at steppingstoneschina.net.
Giving Tree
Operating under Community Center Shanghai, Giving Tree pairs donor organisations such as businesses with migrant children schools to provide both students and teachers with bags of essential items for ‘winter warmth and school success’. You can help by joining a local participating organisation’s Giving Tree team and help fill and transport bags, or lend a hand at the organisation’s distribution centres.
Find out more at givingtree@communitycenter.cn.
Best Friends China
Staffed by animal-loving volunteers, Best Friends China assists the animal rescue community in Shanghai and aims to improve coordination for animal adoption across the city, while also helping with educational programmes.
Find out more at bestfriendschina.org.
Green Initiatives
A non-profit organisation, Green Initiatives is on a mission to ‘promote awareness, facilitate action, implement projects and stimulate change toward sustainable models of growth and consumption.’ The group has a plethora of environmentally friendly operations, including community and student outreach programmes, regular events and campaigns, film screenings, and a ‘green directory’ detailing eco-friendly organisations and outlets in the city. The easiest way to get involved is to attend one of the monthly meet-ups.
Find out more at greeninitiatives.cn.
Renewal Centre
The Renewal Center is an organisation that helps displaced people in Shanghai find shelter, food, community support and employment. Every homeless person who comes to Renewal is offered a hot shower, a change of clothes, laundry facilities, and usually a hot meal. The organisation relies on support from partners and volunteers to help run the centre and give support and friendship to the city’s homeless.
Find out more at renewal.org.cn.
Shanghai Young Bakers
Run by Shanghai Charity Foundation and Chi Heng Foundation, Shanghai Young Bakers provides disadvantaged youths with the opportunity to gain full French and Asian bakery training, enabling them to forge a career and pull themselves out of the poverty cycle.
Find out more at shanghaiyoungbakers.com.
Lifeline
Lifeline Shanghai is an English-language telephone hotline offering free, confidential and anonymous emotional support every day, from 10am to 10pm. Lifeline is staffed by volunteers and relies entirely on the support of sponsors and people giving up their time for free to maintain their services. Volunteers can support Lifeline’s work in a number of capacities, including becoming one of their trained telephone operatives, outreach and fundraising and more.
Find out more at lifeline-shanghai.com.