LiangQiao waved goodbye to his mom, Lin, at Beijing airport one summer morning in 1999, a week before he flew to the United States to pursue the MBA program at the University of Chicago. Nobody knew it was the last time Lin would see her youngest son, then 28 years old, the pride of her family, and the role model of the whole village in a remote barren plain in Western China.
In 2003, Liangqiao was diagnosed with incurable colorectal cancer. He fought back hard and stayed strong for as long as he could, but the oncologist informed him that he had a couple months to live right before Christmas in 2004. Chemotherapy deteriorated his body to the extent that he couldn’t fly back to China to see his mother. It was heartbreaking for him and his family. But he didn’t cry for himself–instead he used his last months to establish Minglin Fund to shine the light of hope and the future to students from his hometown: to thank his parents for raising him in such a destitute condition, and to thank everybody who cheered for him when he overcame one obstacle after another in his life to achieve what many people dream of. In early 2005, he passed away. The Minglin Fund was officially established.
Over the past 15 years, Minglin Fund has sponsored thousands of students from DeYi WanXiao, the elementary school LiangQiao started from, to colleges by removing financial obstacles on the way to pursue their dreams. A new library named after LiangQiao was funded by Minglin and built with books and computers. It has been the students’ favorite place to go after school.
In 2018, DeYi WanXiao started English classes. Liangqiao Channel has been developed by Minglin Fund to further extend our help. Currently we teach English, reading, crafts, music, fun and games, etc. We plan to invite guests to our weekly live class to share their experience and skills.
There are about 350 students in DeYi WanXiao, 150 of them living with their grandparents because their parents have to work in other cities to make a living. Liangqiao Channel would like to grow up with all students, enrich their childhood, lead them to love reading, and listen to them when they need help. Contact us if you think you can help.
Together, we will do better!