On the morning of June 13, the launching ceremony of the Special Funding Project for Volunteer Teaching Youth under the West Program was successfully held in the form of an online meeting, with the title of “Berries Make Future Brighter” (hereinafter referred to as the project). Wang Peng, Deputy Secretary General of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Zhou Huaijun, Deputy Secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, Han Xijun, Head of the Office for West Program Projects of the Gansu Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, Jae Chun, Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific business of Driscoll's and Zhu Qidong, Vice President of Pagoda Group attended the meeting.

Talent is key to rural revitalization. In recent years, the education challenge in economically underdeveloped areas in provinces like Yunnan and Gansu has been widely concerned by the society and enterprises. To tackle it, the nation has been vigorously promoting the West Program and encouraging college students to participate in volunteer teaching and contribute to rural revitalization.

As a berry brand, Driscoll's is committed to bringing nutritious, healthy and delicious blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries to Chinese consumers. Since 2013, it has established a strong emotional bond with Yunnan Province, one of its main producing areas in China. In order to actively respond to national policies and help schools in mountain areas obtain more teaching talents, Driscoll's and Pagoda joined hands with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to launch the project, which is reported to be the first public welfare cooperation between Driscoll's and Pagoda in China. The two parties will donate more than 500,000 RMB to support over 60 postgraduates from colleges and universities for one-year volunteer teaching in mountainous schools in Yunnan and Gansu.

Wang Peng, Deputy Secretary of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, introduced the significance of the project at the meeting. He said: “As a major initiative to promote the equal development of educational public services and resources in underdeveloped areas, volunteer teaching under the West Program has built a bridge for the underdeveloped areas to access to external information and high-quality educational resources, and improved their local basic education and training capacity. Besides, it is also an important carrier for cultivating young talents with ideals, knowledge of national conditions, and responsibilities. Through volunteer teaching activities, they can temper excellent characters in practice, establish firm beliefs, and improve their overall quality.”

To develop education in the west, the key lies in talents. Jae Chun, Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific business of Driscoll's, mentioned: “We hope that more postgraduates caring for the construction of the west and the development of education there will engage in volunteer teaching and make their contributions!”

Zhu Qidong, Vice President of Pagoda Group, said: “Rural revitalization is a responsibility of the whole society. When there are more volunteers teachers, more children will access to education and thus the rural future will be more prospective.”

Meanwhile, the project is also a powerful initiative to assist young people develop in an all-round way. Xu Yanchao, Deputy Secretary of the Youth League Committee of Yunnan University, said: “The members of the postgraduate volunteer teaching group are not only volunteers, but also educators, and even the pioneers fueling the establishment of a high-quality education system in underdeveloped areas, fully implementing the CCP's education policies, fostering virtues by education, cultivating talents for our country, and improving the students’ civilized quality, social responsibility and practical ability. They encourage and guide outstanding young people to further strengthen their ideals and beliefs, and temper their will power and characters, contributing to the development of education in central and west China.”

In the second half of the meeting, Jae Chun, Zhu Qidong, Wang Peng and other representatives from all parties witnessed the launch of the project, following which, more than 60 beneficiary postgraduates from Yunnan University, Lanzhou University and other colleges and universities will embark on their journey of one-year volunteer teaching.