Fifteen Deserving Students Set to Have Uni Covered by Chi Fan for Charity ‘18 Funds

Now that the delicious eats have all been gobbled down, and the diners have partied down at the post-feast event at East hotel, it’s time to tally up the funds raised for this year’s Chi Fan for Charity.

The annual dining oriented goodwill campaign raised hundreds of thousands of renminbi for this year’s recipient, Educating Girls of Rural China (the total is still being counted and will be announced later this week via CFFC's official WeChat channel, ID: ChiFanForCharity_BJ). Candice Zhao, Chairman of Beijing Executive Committee and Director of Operation, says those funds will be divvied up between a special selection of students to cover the RMB 6,000 annual tuition fee for each of their undergraduate degrees.

“With the great work from CFFC, we will be able to support 15-16 students for their four years of university," Zhao says, adding that the "students are selected on the basis of financial need. Without these funds, some students who received scores high enough to enter university would likely need to turn down the offer to remain home and seek unskilled work. Or some students could get a government loan to cover their tuition but would have a very limited budget for living cost during their study.”

Zhao goes on to say that she and her colleagues will begin the selection process after they receive their students’ college entrance exam results and their university enrollment results, which usually happens late July. From there, they will complete the process in August, and students will receive the funds in early September.

Those results are great news for both the diners and the restaurateurs involved. Among the dozens of restaurants that donated tables for diners to purchase seats at, and thus raise money for the campaign, was Andy Horowitz of 3 Little Pigs and Andy's Craft Sausages fame. He says, "As a small business to be able to help out and have this much impact is very nice." 

"We started out by borrowing table space for a few years from XL Bar and the last few in our own space. In fact, we had just taken over space and the Chifan diners were our first guests," Horowitz adds. "This format makes it possible for a small business to have a similar impact as a larger restaurant, which is one of the great things about the format."

That sentiment was shared by diners like Jim Nobles, an American who had worked in social services for years back home, and who was eager to chip in for this goodwill event. So much so that he decided to dine at both Opera Bombana for lunch and at Georgia's Feast for dinner as part of Chi Fan for Charity.

"This cause is truly rewarding," he says, before adding that he was very pleased to help "to ensure our future by helping those less fortunate to live a better life."

If you're hungry for more, check out photos of this year's Chi Fan for Charity here along with information about this year's recipient, Educating Girls of Rural China, here.

Photos courtesy of Chi Fan for Charity, courtesy of 3 Little Pigs