Finding trustworthy charities that deal with kidnapped children in China is difficult, but here are a few worthy causes you can consider helping if you’d like to do something to help combat kidnapping in China. We’ll be adding to this list from time to time as we come across new opportunities to help.
Baby Come Home is an excellent organization of volunteers that works with parents to help them find kidnapped children, organize events, and collect information both about missing kids and about beggar children and pickpockets seen on the street. The organization is supported financially by Jet Li’s One Foundation, so you can contribute by making a donation to the One Foundation here (they use Paypal).
The Xinxing Aid Center is the only privately-run rescue center for street children in China (it is featured briefly in the film). The center provides rescued street children in Baoji, China (some of whom are kidnapped, but all of whom need your help) with food, shelter, schooling, and psychological counseling for as long as they want to stay. It is a bit difficult to donate to as they only accept direct bank transfers at present, but you can find details and instructions in English here.
SOS Children in China is another NGO that helps orphaned street children by placing them with foster families until they are old enough to live on their own. We haven’t worked with them directly, but unlike the Xinxing center, they have locations throughout China. You can sponsor a child here.
If you’d like, you can also help us to ensure that we can continue to make documentaries about issues like this in China. Donations to our nonprofit organization 2non.org are tax-deductible in the United States, and every dollar you donate goes toward the production of documentary films and written feature stories on issues of social justice in China. Plus, we offer cool rewards for donors! Click here to donate.
Anyone can help by spreading the word about this problem by sharing this film and relevant news articles and stories with friends and family. Share via social media or just mention it in conversation — the more people know about this issue, the better!
If you live in China, there are also some steps you can take when you see street children to attempt to help them, although you may need the help of a Chinese-speaking friend to do this stuff. Try to get a photo of any children you see begging or performing on the street, and make a note of the location, date, and time. Report this information to local police immediately — though sadly, they’ll probably ignore it — but also upload it to the web in the following ways to ensure it gets maximum exposure:
Finally, foreign citizens can pressure their governments to raise the issue of child trafficking as an important issue in future human rights discussions with China. Historically, China hasn’t been particularly receptive to this sort of pressure, but it can’t hurt.