REUNION: Cui Lanxin holds Haibaobao in her arms during a visit to the boy's family on April 21 (COURTESY OF CHUNMIAO FOUNDATION)

Cui Lanxin, Secretary General of the Beijing-based Chunmiao Children's Aid Foundation, still remembers a boy nicknamed Haibaobao, a patient with congenital heart disease whom she and her colleagues helped save from death almost two years ago.

Haibaobao is from a low-income Muslim family in Dengzhou, central China's Henan Province. After he was diagnosed with congenital heart disease in 2010, his parents were distraught because they could not afford treatment.

Nonetheless, Haibaobao was lucky. With financial support from the Chunmiao Foundation, he received an operation in Beijing in early 2011. Now 3 years old, Haibaobao is a healthy and chubby toddler.

The foundation was established in 2010 and is mainly engaged in child welfare programs, including sponsoring medical treatment for congenital heart disease. Over the past two years, it has helped approximately 500 poor children with serious illnesses get medial treatment. In October 2012 alone, the organization spent 275,959 yuan ($44,274) to treat 12 children.

Cui Lanxin, the principal operator of the foundation, was a recipient of the Gingko Fellowship for her work at Chunmiao.

The Gingko Fellowship, launched by the Narada Foundation in 2010, gives both tangible and intangible assistance to recipients, including an annual stipend of 100,000 yuan ($16,047) for three consecutive years. The recipients can also participate in overseas study tours to learn charity management and network with experts and other recipients.

Recognition

The Narada Foundation is a private non-profit organization founded in May 2007. With registered capital of 100 million yuan ($16 million), it positions itself as a supplier of funds and resources in the non-profit sector.

The Gingko Fellowship grooms promising young philanthropic professionals for leadership positions in charity organizations. Potential recipients should be between 20- 40 years old, have a minimum of two years' experience in charity, and plan to continue to engage in philanthropy.

This year, 16 persons with an average age of 34 were named recipients, bringing the total number to 37 so far.

The Narada Foundation has a set procedure to select recipients. First, candidates should be nominated by influential persons in NGOs, academic institutions, media organizations or the business sector. The foundation will conduct a preliminary screen and background check on recommended candidates, and then the shortlisted candidates are reviewed by an independent panel of experts. Candidates are required to make a presentation on their charitable work before the panel of experts, who select the finalists.

During the presentation before the panel of experts, Cui impressed the judges.

Cui was born in rural Hebei Province in 1978. At the age of 23, she quit her civil service job and decided to try her luck in Beijing, where she worked various jobs. She once set up her own business but failed. Frustrated by the setback, Cui thought that she could regain the courage to carry on by helping others.

In 2006, Cui met Liu Dong, a medical doctor who later set up the Chunmiao Foundation. Inspired by Liu, she raised funds for poor children with serious illnesses so they could afford medical treatment. In 2010, she quit a highpaying job in a private company to work at the Chunmiao Foundation. Since 2011, Cui has served as secretary general of the foundation, which now has more than 10 fulltime employees and many volunteers.

Not long after the foundation's launch, Cui received a request for help from Yu Lu, a volunteer with whom she once worked. Yu met an 18-month-old boy with a 4.5-kg tumor in his stomach. Doctors in the boy's hometown in Yunnan Province thought it was too risky to treat him, so Yu referred the boy to Cui.