Volunteer stories will help boost awareness of education aid

A charity program was launched in Beijing on Wednesday by the central committee of Communist Youth League, Guangming Daily and Chinese Young Volunteers Association to benefit education in poverty-stricken areas of China.

The activity, called " Education Aid Group Through A Lens," will focus on discovering touching stories among volunteers' experiences serving in elementary and high schools in those areas to promote their strong spirit and positive energy.

The nationwide education aid program involving graduate school students as voluntary teachers has been annually organized for 20 years. More than 20,000 students from around 200 colleges across the country have participated in the program, serving in 400 elementary and high schools in West China.

Since 2015, the media event has been following the education aid program to improve its exposure among the public.

Efforts to help local communities eliminate poverty have been mixed with education aid.

For example, GOME, one of China's largest electric appliance retailers, joined the program this year, not by providing educational tools, but establishing a fund for the volunteers to financially support local students.

The fund allows volunteers to sell goods from the GOME online shopping platform, and the profits will be used for the financial support. Additionally, the online shopping platform will also enable buyers to donate extra money to the students in poverty-stricken areas.