BEIJING, China— Jet Li, a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and Wu Shu champion, is a steady advocate for humanitarianism. Recognized as the first Good Will Ambassador of the International Red Cross in 2010, Li believes the helping the most vulnerable requires humanity’s combined charitable strength.
Li said that the “public charity” is not driven by the influence of trends, but is driven by a custom of giving.
The life shaking experience of 2004 Maldives tsunami changed his life. After surviving the disaster, he began thinking about how to lead a more meaningful life.
In 2007, Li founded a non-profit foundation, the One Foundation, in collaboration with the Red Cross Society of China.
The organization’s motto is “1 person + 1 dollar/yuan + 1 month = 1 big family,” which means individual donations can be transformed into a much greater fund if each one donates one yuan per month. Its model is public charity.
“My ideal foundation is a fundamental charity facility much like the water and electricity utilities to a city,” Li said. “The public charity is not driven by the influence of trends, but is driven by a custom of giving.”
In China, a country with very few public foundations, Li believes this model is not easy, but sustainable, which can effectively cultivate Chinese charity culture and citizen consciousness.
“We want to change ‘do a good deed a day’ in Chinese traditional culture into ‘do a good deed a month,’ Li said. “Why one Yuan? It is the easiest step from psychological research. Once a donor makes the first movement, he/she will be rewarded psychologically.”
This organization mainly focuses on natural disaster relief, environmental protection, medical treatment, education and poverty problems. Every year, it holds global charity forum in BoAo Asia Forum, like a temple fair, a trade show, or a speed date, which allows politicians, entrepreneurs and managers of NGOs from the world to meet up and share their visions.
Since the start of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, 2008 Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan and 2013 Lushan earthquake in Ya’an, Sichuan.
So far, One Foundation has raised more than 190 million yuan (nearly 29 million U.S. dollars) from over 700,000 individuals, distributed some 140 million yuan to different philanthropic projects and partnered with more than 30 organizations and companies, such as Tecent.com, Taobao.com and MSN Live. Also, it has provided a platform for over 70 grass-root NGOs to work together.
In January 2012, the One Foundation ended its cooperation with the Red Cross Society of China and announced the establishment of an independent public fund-raising foundation. According to a news report, it’s the first case that a non-government foundation affiliated with a government-run organization has successfully been transformed into a public fund-raising organization in China.
This is a great step forward in the reform of China’s social organizations management system, and shows the support of the Chinese government in the development of NGOs, some experts said.
While still working as an actor and film producer, Li regards doing charity work as a huge part of his life. Every day, he thinks about how to promote new ways to do philanthropy in the 21-century and help people in the global family.
Even we have different religions, systems, languages and (skin) colors, we are humans. We need to help each other and face the future together, Li said.
– Liying Qian
Sources: English News, Jet Li, One Foundation
Photo: SF Weekly