Children are the flowers in the garden;they are the future of the country,and the hope of the nation.China's children are not only undergoing and witnessing the realization of the country's first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society,in all respects,they are also the new force in achieving the second centenary goal of building China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous,strong,democratic,culturally advanced and harmonious.

The sound growth of children and teenagers in China is the common aspiration of both the CPC and society as a whole.CCTF,established to meet the need of the Party to develop children's cause,has prospered with the development of the cause,and has kept pace with China's reform and opening-up process.

CCTF has always adhered to its mission of educating people for the Party,and the country,and to serving children wholeheartedly.During the past 40 years,a number of charitable projects,with extensive influence,such as the Spring Bud Project,have been implemented.

So far,CCTF has raised more than 6 billion(US$923 million)in donations from society,and it has used that money to benefit nearly 51 million children.It has played a role in winning the battle against poverty,enhancing children's sense of happiness and security,promoting the well-being of families,and encouraging new trends in social civilization.

A Tibetan girl dances in the Forbidden City.She attended a summer camp run by the Spring Bud Project

Spring Bud Blooms,Girls'Dreams Being Achieved

Girls empowered with an education can feel their dreams blooming in the spring breeze.

During the old days,girls of the Hong Yao people,a branch of the Yao ethnic group,in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,were not allowed to attend school,in accordance with local customs.Feng Guixian's mother and grandmother never attended school.Receiving an education seemed to be a distant dream for Feng.

However,changes happened in 1989,when CCTF established the first Hong Yao Girls'Class in Feng's hometown,Baiyun Township,in Rongshui County,in Guangxi.With the help of the Spring Bud Project,Feng was fortunate enough to be among the first group of girls in the village to attend school.

After her graduation,in 2000,Feng returned to her hometown,and she became the first Hong Yao woman teacher in the county.Sharing her experience with the students,she was determined to encourage more children to chase their dreams.One of Feng's classmates became the first Hong Yao woman to be a doctor,and another classmate became the first Hong Yao woman to be a soldier.As the first group of Hong Yao women to become intellectuals,Feng and her classmates became heroines,and the pride of Hong Yao women.

There are millions of girls like Feng in China today.More than 30 years ago,the dropout problem prevailed in China's impoverished areas,and two-thirds of the out-of-school children were girls.Under ACWF's leadership,CCTF launched the Spring Bud Project,in 1989,to help impoverished girls return to school.Since then,millions of girls,like Feng,have benefited from the project;they have used their new-found knowledge to change their lives,and to realize their dreams.

Feng Guixian studied in the first Hong Yao Girls'Class,at Baiyun Township Central School,in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.Now,she is head teacher of the Spring Bud Girls'Class at the school

The project has raised 2.3 billion(US$353 million)in donations from society and it has used that money to benefit 3.86 million girls.The project has become both the most widely funded and longest-running girls'education public-welfare program—with the most beneficiaries—in the history of New China.

The project,with the original aspiration of helping dropout girls in poverty-stricken areas return to school,no longer focuses solely on education.With the development of the times,the project has been expanded,and has gradually evolved into an all-round funding system that cares for girls'education,safety and health.The project now focuses on girls'education assistance,technical training,safety protection,adolescent education,and caring for girls whose parents work away from their hometowns.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the project,in 2019,Spring Bud Project's upgraded version,Spring Bud Project—Dream of Future Action,was launched,which marked the start of the project's new journey.Adhering to the fundamental task of strengthening moral education and cultivating people's overall development,the new action promotes girls'education,helps girls realize their dreams,organizes social-practice activities for girls,protects girls'safety and health,and organizes volunteers to accompany and care for girls in need.

During the past 32 years,countless girls in China have realized their dreams,and have become contributing members of society.They have demonstrated the Spring Bud spirit of unremitting self-improvement and pursuit of truth,beauty and goodness,and they have used their knowledge to serve their hometowns and society.

The Spring Bud Project has profoundly changed the fate of many girls,effectively improved rural women's education and enhanced their ability to participate in economic and social development.It has also inspired impoverished women to create happy lives,through hard work,and guided the women to contribute their strength to winning the battle against poverty.

Cultivating the New Generation

In China,there is a saying that if young people are strong,the country will be strong;if the young people are progressive,the country will be progressive.

"Participating in the rehearsal and performance of Monument in the Sun gave me an opportunity to understand the history of the CPC…I will study hard and cherish today's happy life,"said Wan Yushan,a fourth-grade student in Beijing,who performed the lead role in the drama.

To celebrate the centenary of CPC's founding,CCTF launched a series of publicity and education activities across the country that have highlighted children's love and gratitude for the Party.The activities—including singing,speaking,writing,and reading—have also guided children to learn about the glorious history of the CPC.The activities have deepened the children's love for the Party,cultivated their patriotism,and inspired their ambition to serve the country.

Children receive fire-escape training

Monument in the Sun was one of the activities.All performers were children,like Wan,and the youngest was only 5.Although their performances were immature,their voices were vibrant,and full of love for the Party.

While focusing on the multifaceted needs of children,CCTF has conducted various public-welfare projects,aimed at guiding children to study hard and improve their skills,encouraging them to build a strong and healthy mind and body,and cultivating them to become socialist builders and successors.

The CCTF's projects have included the New Parent Academy/National Online Parent School Project,which promotes family education and family civilization in the new era,the Youth Public-Welfare Academy Project,which helps youth cultivate virtues,broaden horizons,and nurture habits,the Xingzhi Education Project,which encourages children to walk into nature and participate in labor activities,and the Convoy Plan,which helps young students,at home and abroad,to establish a correct view of history and their nation,country and culture.

Promoting Children's Well-Being,with Love

During the past four decades,CCTF has forged ahead with determined efforts,and it has written a brilliant chapter,blessed with numerous loving hearts.

"Volunteers came to our village and we did handicrafts together.We had a great time.They made our vacation sunny and joyful,"recalls Xie Jiarou,an 11-year-old from Shaodong County,in Shaoyang,in Central China's Hunan Province.In prior years,Xie only had her grandmother's company and care,as her parents worked away from their hometown.

Childhood Guardian,a summer volunteer campaign,during which college students accompany rural children,was launched in July 2019.It was organized by CCTF,and co-sponsored by ACWF,the ministries of Education and Civil Affairs,the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council,and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.

During each winter and summer vacation,many college students volunteer in their hometowns to spread family education knowledge among children—in difficult conditions,including children whose parents work away from their hometowns—and their families.The volunteers accompany the children and make sure they enjoy healthy,safe and happy vacations,with rich and varied cultural activities.

A photo taken during the ceremony to launch a publicity and education campaign highlighting children's love and gratitude for the Party

Children's safety and health have long been CCTF's main concern.Since its founding,CCTF has focused on building kindergartens and children's palaces in old revolutionary base areas,ethnic minority areas,border areas and rural areas.At the beginning of this century,CCTF rolled out the Safety and Well-Being Plan.

To address children's most-urgent needs and difficulties,CCTF adopts a diverse development mode.In addition to children's education,CCTF has expanded services,in terms of children's health and relief,children's safety and rescue,and care for children whose parents work away from their hometowns and who live in difficult conditions.CCTF strives to bathe every child in the sunlight of love.

To enhance children's ability to cope with unexpected disasters,CCTF initiated the Children's Safety Education Program,and it developed an interactive-education model that has helped children improve safety awareness and skills through an immersive experience.The program has effectively reduced children's accidental injuries.

To date,308 immersive classrooms and five safety-experience centers have been established in kindergartens,primary or secondary schools and communities across 30 provinces,autonomous regions or municipalities.The facilities have benefited millions of children.

A college student,serving as a volunteer,accompanies a child during summer vacation

To improve the nutrition and health of infants and toddlers under age 3 in poverty-stricken areas,CCTF and the former Ministry of Health(now the National Health Commission)implemented the Action to Eliminate Anemia for Infants and Young Children.Under the initiative,they provided nutrition packages(nutritional supplement for infants and toddlers)to more than 1 million infants or toddlers in 10 provinces,autonomous regions or municipalities.Health-education activities,to equip parents with the knowledge to better feed their children,have also been conducted.

To optimize the social environment for migrant children,and those children whose parents work away from home,CCTF launched Happy Home for Children,HELLO Kids and other public-welfare projects,and it established more than 1,400 Happy Homes for Children and more than 2,500 libraries and book corners,and it donated 14.09 million books(sets of books)to children in poor families.CCTF has also provided a full range of services,including daycare,entertainment,family education guidance and psychological counseling,to more than 800,000 children.

In addition to its regular efforts,CCTF has quickly responded as needed to several major natural disasters,and taken emergent relief actions to mobilize all segments of society,to create a safe and healthy environment for children in disaster-hit areas.For example,after the devastating Wenchuan Earthquake,on May 12,2008,CCTF and Rizhao Steel Holding Group Co.,Ltd.launched the Ankang Home Project,under which they took care of 672 children left orphaned and unattended by the earthquake.To date,324 of those children have been admitted to universities,and 346 of them have either joined the military or graduated from vocational high schools.

During the national fight against COVID-19,CCTF raised funds and materials worth 113 million(US$17.38 million),to provide anti-epidemic materials and nutritional supplies to pregnant women and new mothers,infants and toddlers,orphans in welfare houses,de facto orphans,children in difficult situations and children of medical personnel in Central China's Hubei Province.In all,CCTF has provided assistance and/or services to 196,000 children and their families.During flood-control and disaster-relief action,which recently concluded in Central China's Henan Province,CCTF raised more than 61 million(US$9.38 million)within 10-plus days.That money benefited more than 400,000 children and their families.

During the past 40 years,love and dedication from all segments of society—ranging from the Party and State leaders to ordinary people,from preschoolers to the elderly,from workers to entrepreneurs,and from compatriots in China's Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan to international friends—converged into a powerful driving force that has fostered CCTF's development.

On October 11,Glorious Journey—Exhibition of CCTF's Achievements in 40 Years opened at China National Museum of Women and Children.Through heartwarming images and touching stories,the exhibition highlighted the glorious journey CCTF has traversed during the past four decades.The exhibition was a vivid demonstration of China's public-welfare and charity cause advancing with the times,since the country's reform and opening-up,and it was also a living example of the vigorous development of China's child and teenagers'cause in the new era.

Public welfare is a journey that never ends,and the power of kindness is never exhausted.Standing at a new historic starting point,CCTF is eager to join hands with more caring people,to weave a better future for children and teenagers.Love and hope will give them wings to pursue their dreams,and to empower them to realize their full potential.