Since its establishment by the China Children and Teenagers Fund (CCTF) and Shanghai-based wool manufacturer Hengyuanxiang Group in 2005, the Heng'ai Action has committed to encouraging charity-minded families nationwide to knit and present sweaters to orphans and minors with disabilities, building a paired-up assistance platform between them, and conveying the warmth and care of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the society.
During the past two decades, the Heng'ai Action has drawn the participation of over one million charity-minded families from nearly 100 central and state government agencies, the women's federations of 31 provincial regions and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as well as Hong Kong, Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan. It has collected and distributed about 1.5 million sweaters to orphans, children with disabilities, children living in difficulties, and those of ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, become an embodiment of mutual love and assistance between people in the Chinese nation, and grown into a spiritual bond of people from different ethnic groups, a carrier of cultural inheritance and development, and a bridge of the further enhancement of the strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.
SOEs Employees and Model Workers in Action
Employees of the State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and model workers from various social sectors have played active roles in the expansion of philanthropy from their workplace to the entire society and in the building of strong demonstration effects and social influences behind the Heng'ai Action.
Li Suli, a staff member of Beijing Public Transport Corporation, a National Model Worker, an Outstanding CPC Member and a National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter, has taken part in the Heng'ai Action and knitted numerous sweaters for unknown orphans and children with disabilities over the past two decades.
Under Li's influences, about 120 staff members of Beijing Public Transport Corporation have participated in the action, knitting and donating sweaters to children and passing on love to more people.
Women staff members of the CASC (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation) Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology have incorporated such elements as rockets, satellites and astronauts into their handmade sweaters for children of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
These sweaters have not only brought warmth and care to children but also become a carrier of the aerospace culture, sparking their interests in science and technology and planting seeds of aerospace dream in their heart.
In addition, volunteers from the CASC Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology have also travelled to Bortala and Kashgar of Xinjiang, not only to popularize aerospace knowledge among the children but also to donate aerospace-themed cultural creative products.
Intangible Cultural Heritage Empowers Public Welfare Cause
The participation of intangible cultural heritage inheritors and rural women has added warmth, cultural depth and life resilience to the implementation of the Heng'ai Action.
They have taken their traditional handicrafts and wool as a medium to promote the inheritance and development of relevant time-honored techniques, seek self-empowerment and help children gain a deep understanding of Chinese culture and women's unique strength.
Tu Jie, a third-generation inheritor of Wuhan's intangible cultural heritage of yarn crochet, has further deepened the integration between intangible cultural heritage and the philanthropic cause and found new application scenarios for traditional handicrafts in the participation of the Heng'ai Action.
Tu has introduced distinctive stitching techniques of yarn crochet to her handmade sweaters. Her disciples have also integrated cartoon elements into the traditional handicraft. The sweaters they knit are deeply loved by children.
Wu Juan is the chief of a hand-knitting workshop in Xinhua of Central China's Hunan Province. When Hunan Women's Federation called on people to join the Heng'ai Action in 2021, she immediately responded by calling her friends to join in the action together. Within just one week, 128 charity-minded women signed up for the action.
They later spent three months in knitting 980 sweaters and donated the sweaters to children in Xinjiang, with each sweater accompanied by a handwritten blessing card. "It turns out that the warmth from our fingertips can truly melt the winter chill thousands of miles away," Wu says.
The Heng'ai Action has brought changes to Wu's workshop. She organizes women to voluntarily knit sweaters for orphans and children with disabilities in Xinhua, a city in Hunan, even when there are no project assignments.
"I used to think of myself as someone helped by Wu. Now following her to help others is the greatest joy of my life," says a woman who attended a training session at Wu's workshop. This transition from "being helped" to "helping others" is precisely what makes charity work so moving.
During the past six years, Wu's workshop has provided free training to more than 15,000 people and helped more than 3,000 stay-at-home women and women living in difficulties achieve flexible employment.
What they take pride is that their handicrafts have become a reliable channel for them to pursue self-independence and forge a bond of love beyond physical boundaries.
Enthusiasm for Public Welfare
The Heng'ai Action has met warm response from college students and cancer survivors. They have used their own life experiences to depict diverse possibilities behind the public welfare project and warm numerous hearts with sincerity and commitment.
The first time that students at Jilin University encountered the Heng'ai Action was in the winter of 2008. A girl student, who served as a torch bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, brought back wool of Hengyuanxiang Group from the Beijing and participated in a knitting activity with her classmates.
The Heng'ai Action formally landed at Jilin University in March 2013 when it held a ceremony to mark the Lei Feng Memorial Day. Lei Feng was a Chinese soldier known for his selfless devotion to helping others. Since then, its domestic and international students as well as teachers have knitted sweaters for children.
Last autumn, students at Jilin University received a letter of thanks from a child in Xinjiang, which contained a photo of him wearing a handmade sweater. The sweater was knitted by 20 students.
During the past 12 years, students at Jilin University have delivered 580 sweaters and 200 sets of scarves and gloves to children in Tongyu County of Northeast China's Jilin Province and Ngari Prefecture of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.
Women cancer survivors from Chongming of Shanghai have injected special strength into the Heng'ai Action with their optimism and resilience over the past seven years.
In 2006, cancer survivor Fan Juping established a team of 20 recovered cancer patients to participate in the action. For them, knitting is not only a form of public welfare service but also a way of self-healing. Their participation in the Heng'ai Action has provided them with opportunities to exchange knitting skills and share daily life experiences. While achieving their own value, they also conveyed the attitude of "optimism and resilience" in life, proving that even after going through hardships, one can still warm others with their own efforts.
Conveying Great Love, Warmth to More People
During the past two decades, the Heng'ai Action has spread love and hope across the country, helped more children grow up healthily, and created a better future for them.
Gong Weijun, from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has knitted nearly 1,000 sweaters since 2015. "I'm just doing meaningful things within my capabilities," she says.
Yumin Primary School in Wuzhong, a city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has mobilized nearly 50 classes with about 3,300 parents to get involved in the Heng'ai Action. Some of them also visited children in Xinjiang.
In the past two decades, the Heng'ai Action has transformed wool into warmth, love and hope. Every sweater is unique and each stitch contains love. It has brought charity-minded people together and sent kindness and warmth to numerous children and families. In the years ahead, it will rally together more warmth and hope and forge countless small acts of kindness into the enduring warmth of a nation.
Photos from CCTF
(Source: CCTF/Women of China)
Editor: Wang Shasha
