Every year, without fail, the New Year and Spring Festival bring anticipation for the future, and provide opportunities to cherish precious moments with loved ones. Understanding the importance of companionship during such special occasions, staff members of the Spring Bud Project launched an annual initiative, to encourage people to create Spring Bud New Year's greeting cards for Spring Bud girls. Numerous people have participated in the annual activity, and they have conveyed their love and wishes to the girls. 

Yu Hui, from Zhuhai, in South China's Guangdong Province, is a donor of the Spring Bud one-on-one companion program. She drew eight famous scenic spots in Zhuhai on the greeting cards she created for the children. Yu signed each card with the pen name, All-Powerful Little Fish, and she added a simple, yet profound, message: "I hope, one day, you can become the 'all-powerful' person in the eyes of your friends and help more people." Yu hopes to motivate the Spring Bud girls to strive for personal growth, achieve their dreams, and create their own value. 

Yang Hongling not only became a donor of the Spring Bud one-on-one companion program, but also encouraged her friends to participate in charitable activities. In 2021, Yang and two of her friends sponsored 12 children. In 2022, another friend joined them, and, together, they sponsored 20 children. Yang has named the greeting cards she created for the girls Spring Bud Blessings. 

More than 40 students from the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts, in Shenyang, in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, created cards for Spring Bud girls. One message on a card moved Shan Sirui. The message read: "May you have an everlasting love as you journey toward the future, shining like a star and free as the wind." Through their participation, Shan and her classmates have gained a deeper understanding of the Spring Bud Project, and they have been inspired to participate in more charitable activities. 

Jiang Zhou is a member of the Nanyue Youth Public Welfare Society, at Nanjing University, in Nanjing, in East China's Jiangsu Province. He participated in the activity twice. In 2022, he designed a greeting card featuring Nanjing University. This year, he organized his classmates to participate in the activity. 

Ran Jing is deputy secretary-general of a youth education volunteer association in Wanzhou District, in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, and she is head of the team responsible for implementing the Spring Bud one-on-one companion program in Chongqing. For many years, she and the team members have been conducting home visits and organizing various activities, forging a deep friendship with the children they have been assisting. 

Last year, when the children received the cards from Ran and her team, they also expressed their desire to make greeting cards for other Spring Bud girls. The girls made exquisite cards, and exchanged them with each other. 

"From receiving cards and feeling the care from caring people to making cards for the others, the children want to pass on love. Each child is like a little sun, using all of their abilities to bring warmth to others," Ran says.

Photos Provided by Interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly August 2023 issue)