Greenwich Citizen

September 10, 2004 |Section: Living

Making the World a Better Place

China Care Foundation Gives Orphans The Opportunity to Have A Real Family
by NICOLE RIVARD
nrivard@bcnnew.com

Twenty-year-old Matt Dalio of Greenwich doesn't think of himself as anything other than a normal college student. He attends Harvard and likes to hang out with his friends, play the guitar, and go water skiing and wakeboarding. But Oprah Winfrey and the editors of Teen People magazine recognized Dalio as the cream of the crop of young people in 2002, the year he appeared on Oprah's show and was featured in the teen magazine's April issue as one of "20 Teens Who Will Change the World." Dalio is changing the world, because in addition to being the "typical" college student, he just happens to be the founder/ president of China Care Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Chinese orphans and the families who adopt them. The foundation assists by promoting and facilitating adoptions of Chinese children to American families, by contributing to better orphan care in China, and by giving support to special needs orphans and the families that adopt them. China Care's second annual invite-only gala takes place tonight at the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich. More than 300 benefactors of the China Care Foundation will enjoy an evening that includes a cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, a sit-down dinner and a special concert with Grammy Award-winning musicians Sheryl Crow and Buddy Guy. Dalio's love affair with the Chinese and their culture started when he was three years old when he accompanied his father, an investment manager, on a business trip to Shanghai.

And at age 11, with the encouragement of his father, he lived there for a year with family friend Gu Zequing. Dalio said that's when he discovered how loyal and kind the Chinese people were. He said there was nothing a Chinese friend wouldn't do for you. He became attached to Zequing and the country and visited regularly after that. Dalio got the idea to start China Cares in 2000 when a family friend encountered problems adopting a Chinese girl. He spent the summer in Beijing that year and decided to focus on helping handicapped orphans get adopted. At the ripe old age of 16, Dalio started asking family friends for donations. He also went to his church and shared his plan with the community. In a little more than two weeks, he collected $108,000. Following his appearance on Oprah, he received donations from more than 25 states. Last year's fund-raising gala with B.B. King raised $275,000.

"When I first started I thought that $50,000 was an ambitious goal," Dalio said. "Since then, we have raised more than one million dollars. "Events like tonight's gala have allowed us to take China Care to another level," Dalio said. "In August we opened our first children's home in China to provide specialized care to kids who might die in a regular orphanage." These children include premature babies or those with medical conditions that require special care not offered in other orphanages. At press time, five kids were already calling the new China Care Taiyuan Children's Home their home. In the next year, the home plans to take in more than 120 children to nurse them back to health.

This year China Care is also sponsoring 100 cleft lip/cleft plate surgeries and has added a new director to the team in China. In addition, the organization's financial aid program continues to grow to help families who can't afford the $16,000-$20,000 cost of adoption. "It is a huge burden for many families often one they can't overcome," Dalio explained. "So China Care steps in to give them a small boost that makes their adoption possible. We have made possible more than 50 adoptions through our financial aid program."

Saving Grace

One adoption made possible through the financial aid program has a particularly special place in his heart. The moment Dalio met Grace at an orphanage, he was enraptured by her charm. "I remember leaving the room not knowing if I would ever see her again," he recalled. "The next year, I met her again, asked about her and found out that a family was trying to adopt her but didn't have the money. She has since been adopted because of China Care's support and has become my goddaughter. "We have become extremely close, and in seeing how her life has changed in both dramatic and subtle ways I gained a much deeper understanding of how radical of a difference we are making in ALL of these children's lives that we are helping."

One Person's Power

"China Care has made me realize the power that I, as a single youth, have," Dalio said. And he is inspiring other young people to change the world. Fourteen-year-old Jack Rivers, a family friend, attended last year's benefit and thought Dalio was doing a great thing. So he raised money for China Care this year and hand delivered the money, along with piles of medicine, when he visited China for five weeks this summer. "I raised $28,000," Rivers explained. "I started by making an announcement at my church that I was going on a mission trip to China and I sent out personal letters to people. I had no idea I could raise that much money in three weeks. It took so little effort to raise that much money."

Rivers stayed at an orphanage while he was in China and helped out with cleaning, painting and other maintenance work, plus he played with the kids. "My favorite part was playing with the kids and seeing them have a good time," Rivers said. He wants to go back next year, but in the meantime has been getting his friends interested in China Care. "I've been telling them what a great experience it is and how much you get out of it," he said. "He really loved it," Rivers' mom, Amy, said. She could tell by the look on his face when she and her husband went to China to see Jack. "When he was introducing us to some of the Chinese kids, he looked like what a parent would look like when they are showing off their children," she said. "It was really sweet. We are proud of him. It is amazing what one child can do. That is what I learned. One person can really have an influence."

China Care in Greenwich

One town can have an influence too. Greenwich has embraced China Care as well. There are currently China Care clubs in Brunswick, Greenwich Academy and Greenwich Country Day. The China Care clubs so far have started play groups (The Dumplings) for adoptive kids in the area, sent volunteers into orphanages in China and raised money to support orphans.

"Many of the clubs raise money to support children in foster care, where they receive monthly updates on the child so that they can see them grow and develop," Dalio said. "This is so important since it helps the kids here tangibly see the difference that they are having on someone's life." He hopes that people, young and old, who become involved in China Care will appreciate their families and what they have more like he has.

I think when you live in a place like Greenwich, where people have so much, it's easy to for- get that other people don't," Dalio said.

Corning from a family of four, Dalio hopes to have a lot of kids and one day he would like to adopt. For now, he feels fortunate to have adopted Grace as his godchild.

"There are so many adorable kids with amazing hearts that are left behind because there are just not enough families to take them in. Hopefully one day I won't have to just dream about taking one of those children home with me," Dalio said.

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