A China Care Club has been formed at Northwestern University to provide opportunities for local children, who were adopted from China, to meet other children with similar experiences through playgroups and mentoring programs. These Clubs are part of the China Care Foundation, an organization founded by Matthew Dalio, currently a junior at Harvard University, when he was 16 years old.

In addition to sponsoring China Care Clubs on high school and college campuses, the China Care Foundation provides special-needs children in China with a home outside of orphanages and medical and surgical attention while living in the home. The Foundation also provides Americans with financial assistance for adopting Chinese special-needs children.

The Northwestern University China Care Club plans to offer two primary programs for Chicago-area children: a bi-weekly play group and a mentoring program. The Saturday Playgroup will focus on theme-centered activities for children ages four through nine and the Jie Jie Mei Mei (Big Sister Little Sister) mentoring program is designed for children age 10 and above. The Jie Jie Mei Mei mentoring program will be guided by Chinese and Chinese American student volunteers.

The Northwestern China Care Club has only recently been formed and your input on program offerings is being sought. Please send your questions or suggestions to Kuangyan Huang at k-huang3@northwestern.edu. Your responses will allow NCC to effectively plan their fall program schedule. You can learn more about the China Care Foundation by visiting www.chinacare.org.