James Su (center), president of the Asian American Cultural and Artistic Foundation, and Danny Wu (second from right), associate superintendent of Herald Foundation, announce a joint effort to raise money for Xianyang Herald Children's Village in Herald Community Center in San Gabriel on Monday. Cindy Liu / China Daily

Two Los Angeles-based registered nonprofit organizations said on Monday they will provide financial support to Xianyang Herald Children's Village, a foster care center for children in need in Xianyang city in China's Shaanxi province.

The Asian American Cultural and Artistic Foundation (AACAF) announced its commitment to match the amount of the donation that the Herald Foundation receives to double the financial support to help Xianyang Herald Children's Village. The fund raising objective the Herald Foundation has for the center is $50,000. The AACAF will provide another $50,000 to match the number.

James Su, president of AACAF, said that as a non-profit organization that supports educating the youth in the Chinese-American community in southern California as well as in China, they understand the hard work of doing charity. "By matching the donation, we want to make their work easier and double the benefit for children in China," Su said.

For five years the AACAF has made an effort in educating children in four provinces in China including Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. More than $100 million has been allocated to help children in poverty in those areas. After China's 2008 Sichuan earthquake resulted in more than 69,000 deaths, 18,000 missing and more than 600 orphans, the AACAF built up a digital library and collaborated in arranging computers for children in school. "We want to open a window for them to see a bigger world to inspire them and to give them the hope for tomorrow," said Su.

The children's foster center is the fourth one that the Herald Foundation has created since 2004. The other three are Sanming Herald Children's Village in Sanming city of Fujian province, Hechi Herald Children's Village in Hechi city of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Mianyang Herald Children's Village in Mianyang city of Shaanxi province.

The Herald Children's Village accepts four types of children in need and associate superintendent Danny Wu believes in "filling in the gaps in China's current policy". In many places in China, young children without parents in poor rural areas do not qualify to go to a children's village if their grandparents or other relatives are alive. Children accepted by the Herald Children's Village include those whose parents passed away, cases where the father passed away and the mother remarried leaving the children behind, children whose parents are disabled or suffering from mental disease, and those whose parents are temporarily in jail.

"Our goal is to give all those children a home and a hope as well as shoulder the government's responsibility," Wu said.

The first Herald Children's Village, Fujian Sanming Herald Children Village, has raised more than 100 children since it was built in 2005. "I remember those young kids sat on my knees in the first days I was there," recalled Wu. "Now some of them are adults."

cindyliu@chinadailyusa.com