“In my city, there are a lot of charity organizations. They are similar volunteer organizations doing similar fund raising, but with different names. Why did I find another one? Because I think students are more enthusiastic and talented, so our charity work can be more interesting and more original!”
Andy Hsiao is a sophomore at the University of Michigan- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI). Not long into JI, the sunshine boy from the United States has already blended into his class. On the tennis courts and at the ping-pong games, one can often spot sweaty Andy playing with other students.
Andy is warm, cheerful, very creative and passionate about charity work. Looking at his young face, one can not imagine this barely 20-year-old boy already has five years of charitable experience under his belt since he was a freshman in high school. Before the sophomore year, he founded the Youth Impact Club and had successfully led a series of fund raising activities, for which he won the 2013 Young Citizens of the Year Award sponsored by the Ann Arbor News.
Today, the compassionate big boy is continuing his study at JI. Recalling those fun and creative fund raisers he had organized, Andy said it was a very meaningful time for him, which has had an indelible impact on his life.
Doing more interesting and creative charity work
The Youth Impact Club is a student club at the Huron High School in Anne Arbor, Michigan. It was founded by Andy in 2011 and has continued to carry out charitable activities successfully.
On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Japan and caused heavy casualties and property losses. Andy, a freshman in high school, heard the news and decided to do something to help.
Andy（first right）and children wearing fund raising T shirts
Andy reached his friends in Japan to understand the local situation, while his sister contacted the Tokyo and Sendai Rotary Club to clarify the real needs of the affected people. Andy came up with the idea to raise money through the sale of T-shirts and quickly put it into practice. He designed a T shirt printed with the Japanese “Ganbare, Nihon!” (Fight on, Japan!) and sold them online through Facebook, Twitter, etc. During this sale process, in order to make the use of donations more transparent, Andy would announce the specific schools and organizations the donations were allocated to. Meanwhile, he would translate the thank-you notes written by the Japanese students into English and recorded in video, so the donors knew exactly whom their donation had benefited. Such transparency quelled people’s suspicion, gained their trust and raked in more donations. Soon, many students spontaneously joined the ranks of selling the T-shirts, which spread from Huron High School to other high schools in Michigan. A total of 443 T-shirts were sold and $ 2,436.50 was raised. All the proceeds went to the post-disaster reconstruction fund of the Japanese Rotary Foundation. Andy hoped that through this way the disaster-stricken Japanese could feel the support of their American friends.
Andy and friend Atulya Shetty organized a chess challenge
Atulya Shetty, a close friend of Andy’s at Huron High School, was a national-level chess player. In order to better help the affected people in Japan, he and Andy organized a chess challenge. Anybody who paid a challenge fee could challenge Atulya Shetty the national chess player. A winner could get prizes. The chess challenge lasted three hours, with Shetty playing against 40 challengers simultaneously and raised a total of $ 265 for the earth quake victims.
Inspired, Andy found it possible to tap into one’s talents to do fund raising. Therefore, he also held a violin recital to raise money for the Japanese earthquake victims.
Altogether, Andy raised $6000 for charity through the three fund raising projects. He found himself hooked by fun-filled and original charity work. He asked himself, “Why not let more people join the fun for good cause?” So he recruited a few good friends, set up an 8-member board and found the Youth Impact Club a few days before his sophomore year.
Youth Impact Club is thriving
Andy was the engine behind this organization, through which he wanted to promote public awareness of charity work. By his dedication and hard work, the Youth Impact Club soon attracted more students to join.
Andy thinks what distinguishes Youth Impact Club from other charity organizations is its emphasis on fun and innovation. “In my city, there are a lot of charity organizations. They are similar volunteer organizations doing similar fund raising, but with different names. Why did I find another one? Because I think students are more enthusiastic and talented, so our charity work can be more interesting and more creative!”
Indeed. As soon as the Youth Impact Club kicked off, they launched two eye-opening fund raisers: an All You Can Eat Pizza and a Youth Factor talent show.
All you can eat pizza fundraiser
For the Pizza fundraiser at Huron High School, 10 Ann Arbor pizza parlors donated 10 pizzas each. Paying only $5 (students) or $10 (general public), people could taste all the pizza and vote for their favorites. While filling their stomachs, people also contributed to a good cause. The event was to raise money for Take Heart Association, which provides heart surgeries for children with heart defects and diseases in Kenya and East Africa. The pizza fund raiser was a triple-win: The pizza parlors got free advertisement, the patrons enjoyed cheap and delicious pizza and $1800 was raised for Take Heart Association.
Youth Factor Talent Show
Imitating the popular British X-Factor talent show, the Youth Factor was a hit. Contestants submitted video clips to a website and the audience voted for the 13 finalists who came from five high schools in Ann Arbor. The judges were local celebrities. The tickets for the final showdown were $5 for students and $15 for the general public. All proceeds went to Ann-Hua Rainbow Project, which helps students in remote rural China.
Since then, the annual Youth Factor talent show has become a tradition of the Youth Impact Club, which continues to thrive after Andy graduated from high school.
The Dream Goes on
In 2014, Andy traveled half of the world and came to to study at JI. The reason to leave the United States is to experience a different culture in a new country. He also would like to improve his Chinese in China.
Andy presenting his Vg100 project at the 2015 Summer Design Expo
Andy thinks he has made the right choice. The abundant innovative research projects at JI provide an opportunity for students to keep up with the forefront of international research. More importantly, JI’s international training mode suits Andy perfectly. Speaking of the “Introduction to Engineering” course taught by his favorite teacher Shane Johnson, Andy exclaimed that he felt as if he had been in a classroom back in the USA because Professor Shane Johnson taught entirely in the American way. At the same time, Andy was impressed that all JI professors are very friendly, willing to communicate with and provide assistance to the students, which is a far cry from some American professors who cannot utter the names of their students. That gives Andy a deep sense of belonging. Andy adapted to JI very quickly. He is making new friends and experiencing the Chinese culture. He believes that his gain from JI exceeds his expectations.
Andy the sport enthusiast won championship at the JI tennis match
Although having traversed half the globe, Andy did not intend to give up his dream of charity work. When asked about establishing an organization similar to the Youth Impact Club at JI, Andy admitted that he did have this idea but it was not yet mature. He hopes that after being fully adapted to the environment and understanding how to operate in the Chinese society, he would continue to fulfill his charity dream. As for his future, Andy thinks that entrepreneurship is a very likely choice. He needs to better explore his life path in the coming days.
News links：
Where are they now? Past Ann Arbor Young Citizens of the Year find ways to serve
Huron freshman’s T-shirts bring hope, dollars to friends in Japan
Huron High School student group to host Pizza Showdown to benefit children in Kenya
Coin jars and stomachs are filled at the Huron pizza fundraiser
Ann Arbor Huron high schoolers to debut reality TV show-inspired competition this weekend
Former ‘American Idol’ contestant among judges of ‘Youth Factor’ talent competition
Youth Factor talent show raises funds for charity
