The Yellow River Soup Kitchen has been operating in China for the past 16 years, since December 2005, yet in all that time we have been unable to register in China as a charity in our own right, instead we partnered with the Provincial Government Charity Association in Shaanxi to afford us legal status so that we were able continue to run our projects and provide services for the homeless and those in most need within our region. Over the years this partnership has worked very well and we have enjoyed very good relationships.
During this time however the rules surrounding charity organisations continued to tighten leading us to believe that if we did not manage to register ourselves it may at some point become a problem and effect the work that we do, as such we have persevered in attempting to find solutions to the challenges. The good news is that we have now succeeded in registering a Charity here and it appears to be just in the nick of time as the authorities are now closing down none registered organisations, some of them great organizations that have been doing amazing work for many years.
The new registered Chinese name is 西安市托妳济困公益慈善中心 but as it stands we will retain the English name of Yellow River Soup Kitchen, everything else will remain as before and we will continue to offer service to the underprivileged of Xi’an and the surrounding area. Sadly though as a result of all the changes here we have been advised that in order for us to proceed into the future it is better that we no longer accept financial donations from outside of China, this is a huge disappointment to us as we have many long term friends whom over the years have supported and helped the Soup Kitchen get through some tough times. However as a result of past support from so many people, assisting us to create the legacy of the Soup Kitchen to date, allowing us to finally attain legal registered status, we are on a good footing to carry on doing the work we have been doing for so many years.
We thank you all for your continued support, with best wishes and good health, from all at the Yellow River Soup Kitchen.
Tony
Founder Yellow River Soup Kitchen
