Jockeying for supporting education

Students at the playground of a primary school in Changyang, Hubei province. The Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club donated 150,000 yuan ($23,585) to the school to help improve its facilities. It's one of the three schools it donated funds. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Last month, the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club clubhouse organized a charity fundraising dinner to help underprivileged children with educational and medical subsidies.

Established in 2008, it is the only non-local clubhouse of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a charity with more than 130 years' history.

The event attracted nearly 80 guests, who are members of the clubhouse. Some 22 works, including several Burgundy vintages, were auctioned.

The event raised 6.49 million yuan ($1.02 million). Some of the funds will be used to support education in Qinghai province and Tibet. About 1.64 million yuan will go to Jigme Gayaltsen Welfare School in Qinghai in western China. The rest will go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Tibetan senior monk Jigme Gayaltsen founded the welfare school 20 years ago, the first local educational institution with significant impact in the area. It has been providing free education and accommodation to its students, and the teachers work there for free.

The school teaches Chinese and Tibetan languages and culture, mathematics and other occupational courses to students of all ages, including girls. With students increasing, the worn-out academic building and dormitories have been unable to meet the demand.

"The charitable proceeds of six particular items will be used for supporting the establishment of a new academic building at the school. We invited a renowned architect to design the building, and it is expected to complete in September next year," said Chen Jincheng, executive director of membership services at the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Unlike the clubhouse in Hong Kong, the one in Beijing doesn't have income from equestrian lottery, and its charity funds mostly come from the donations of members. "At every fundraiser, many people bid for a bottle of wine with an amount far beyond its actual price. They do so because of love and benevolence," Chen said.

In order to fund the school operation, Gayaltsen, its president, launched a yak cheese factory. It mainly exports the products to overseas markets as the strong cheese flavor is better appreciated by Westerners. But, after the tainted baby formula scandal in 2008, which involved milk and infant formula being mixed with melamine, Gayaltsen's business plummeted.

"The overseas markets don't want to import the cheese anymore because of mistrust of milk products quality in China. Our cheese from highland is actually highly natural and pure. I hope more people would be able to appreciate the products, so I can get some income to support the school," he said.

Tang Xiaoyao, general manager of the Beijing Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: "I hope that our members can help promote the yak cheese, and help the school develop sustainably. Donations are temporary, but commercial success of the cheese factory will make the school financially self-sufficient."

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which begins with gaming and ends with charity, has made billions of yuan in donations to several mainland disaster relief funds, including those related to the Sichuan earthquake in 2008 and the Qinghai earthquake in 2010.