There’s something about paying it forward. Zigen does just that from what I understand. I first heard about this nonprofit through my mother. They basically travel to very rural areas of China to build schools and provide children with the basics for education. They also have scholarship programs where they board and educate people on the basis that the person has to go back to their own village and teach.
While the Zigen Fund has since expanded from the education realm, that is still one of their major nonprofit goals that really touches people in the right place. There’s something about young children who don’t even get basic needs, let alone basic education that really drives home when we grow up in the United States where school is pretty much given to us through the taxpayers.
I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to actually travel to areas like that, but even donating to a fund that I know all of the money is going to the right place makes me feel good. It also helps to know that there are Chinese American professionals out there that give their time and money to help those in need.
