In anticipation of the Asian Games and the Asian Games for the Disabled in 2010, Guangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau [GMCAB], announced plans to enlist 1 million volunteers to serve the community.

Officials said its primary task next year would be to recruit 1 million volunteers as set by the Municipal Government and to further expand the number of community volunteers. The bureau will establish and implement efficient procedures:

-- To create files on community volunteers,
-- To streamline the procedures for potential volunteers to sign up
-- for members of the public to apply for volunteer services.

The bureau also has plans to recruit student volunteers to serve the community.

GMCAB officials explained that next year volunteers would be recruited for specific roles and jobs, so that they can contribute significantly to social welfare and public interests. Services will be provided for people living alone, the disabled, the elderly,  orphans,  families of revolutionary martyrs, needy families, the unemployed , and others requiring volunteers' services. To access services, individuals can make an appointment with the bureau.

The volunteer registration and administration system has steadily improved. Statistics show that, to date, nine districts and county-level cities in the Guangzhou Municipality have established volunteer associations. 144 sub-districts have established volunteer liaison offices, and 1,139 neighborhoods have established volunteer action centers, with more than 620,000 registered volunteers.

Over the last four years, 1.3 million volunteers in Guangzhou have provided services for 1.26 million residents. Today, each sub-district and neighborhood has dedicated volunteer teams engaged in a wide range of services, including security, care for the elderly, poverty reduction, assistance for the disabled, healthcare, environmental protection, and popular science education. Some professional institutions have also established voluntary service teams. For example, judicial authorities have volunteers providing legal aid, and staff members and their families at foreign consulates in Guangzhou have set up an international volunteer team.

Volunteers in Guangzhou are providing an increasingly wider range of services, and the professional standard of these services are rising steadily as well.

Editor: Donald