IN BRIEF

Free flights laid on for basketball

About 800 students from Hope Primary Schools in rural areas are set to fly XiamenAir free of charge. They will attend basketball games in Nanjing, in eastern Jiangsu province, during the 2017 Basketball Season held by the Yao Foundation. The annual event, initiated by former Chinese NBA player Yao Ming in 2012, includes basketball teaching, training and competition. It aims to help students grow up to appreciate physical exercise, said Ye Dawei, executive director of the Yao Foundation.

XiamenAir will also provide free tickets for volunteers and pupils involved in the Yao Foundation, to watch the NBA All-Star Game held in February 2018 in Los Angeles, the USA.

Red Cross hands out bags of toys

The Chinese Red Cross Foundation gave out bags containing toys, school supplies and daily necessities to children with congenital heart disease at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University in late June. The foundation provided free disease screening for children up to 14 years old in Hotan, Kashi and Ili of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region last month. Wuxi Mingxin Heart Disease Assistance Foundation and the Chinese branch of US-based Emerson Electric Co, donated up to 5.2 million yuan ($766,000) in funds for the project. The event, which has helped about 8,000 children with congenital heart disease across the country during the past 11 years, has been expanded to foreign countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative this year.

Craft auction held in the US

Traditional handicraft made by women from poverty stricken areas in China, including paper and embroidery artwork, was auctioned in Los Angeles in late June. This was to support women-related, non-profit events by the China Women's Development Foundation. Most of the products came from the Mom's Handwork project organized by the foundation in about 10 provinces, including southwestern Yunnan province and Guizhou province. Zhang Zhaoda, leader of Mom's Handwork, said the event aimed to improve the life of poor women by helping bring their handicraft to the market.

China Daily