A varsity charity campaign lasting a week got underway at Fudan University yesterday. Students are being encouraged to make donations and show compassion for those less fortunate.

In the southern dorm areas of Fudan's Handan campus the university has teamed up with the Shanghai Charity Foundation to set up a station to collect cash, second-hand clothes and goods gifted by companies.

It's the third charity station set up by universities following East China Normal and Shanghai Universities. 

Some of the second-hand clothes will be cleaned and distributed to needy Fudan students while others will be sold to set up a charity fund for the poor, officials said. Students who give used clothes to the Fudan charity station will receive a book donated by the Shanghai Xinhua Book Store.

Fudan students have also launched sign-language classes teaching basic communication skills to assist the handicapped.

Fudan President Wang Shenghong said it was a priority to free poverty-stricken students from financial worries.

(Shanghai Daily December 6, 2006)