Imagine the anticipation a hungry child feels when sitting down to the table for their morning breakfast, only to find that the coveted rice porridge they had dreamed of the night before is still only a figment of their imagination. Imagine that all of their meals are made up of a cheap broth with minimal nutrition or taste. Imagine the forlorn faces and growling stomachs of those amazing children. Sad, isn’t it? Now let’s imagine those same children waking up to find that they will have rice for breakfast! And for lunch! And for dinner! Can you see the smiles? To fulfill that need is the mission of the Mifan Mommy Club members.

The Mifan Mommy Club is a virtual club of individuals who band together to support children in China by providing donations to buy rice for a specific welfare institute. For this program, we are concentrating on one children’s institute that is in need of assistance. The institute is located in Anhui province and houses approximately 200 children. The most urgent need is for rice, as when we started this program, the children only received rice a few times per month for special occasions-the rest of the month they were only served a weak broth for their daily sustenance. The facility is also in dire need of renovations, especially the living quarters and kitchen area. Donations can be made to provide the rice or for special projects to the facility and training for the care-takers of the children. The founder of the institute, Lao Wang Jia Yu, is a generous man who turned his failed factory into a refuge for the unwanted and abandoned. Since starting this program, he has taken in over 500 children and/or young adults, many of who are now grown and have their own families. Though Lao Wang has received assistance from various organizations in the past, it has not been enough to sufficiently cover all of the many needs such a facility requires. Our goal is to alleviate some of the financial burdens and improve the daily living conditions of those who are protected under his care.
For more information on the Mifan Mommy Club, see Kay Bratt’s blog at http://mifanmommyclub.blogspot.com/