Non-govt foundations receive $55m donations

Sixty-six non-government foundations nationwide have received donations worth at least 438 million yuan ($54.7 million) for people in Ya’an city, Sichuan province, after a magnitude-7 earthquake hit the area on Saturday, a Chinese foundation database has shown.

The China Foundation Center, which was co-established by 35 non-government foundations in 2010 to provide information on the non-government foundation industry in China, said the figure was a sum-up of the donations received by 66 non-government foundations nationwide 72 hours after the earthquake.

Some foundations, including the Shenzhen-based One Foundation, which has received donations worth 90 million yuan, have also agreed to reveal online how the donations will be put into use, the foundation center said.

Details on how the other donations have been put into use can be accessed at the official website of the center.

The donation center also said it hoped more foundations will disclose how the donations will be put into use in the days to come.

“I hope the Ya’an earthquake will become an important opportunity for the non-government foundations to regain the public trust,” said Xu Yongguang, director of the foundation center.