Author: Steven Shen, President of a Perfect Love
The Hilton Hotel in San Gabriel, Los Angeles, is the most popular venue for China-U.S. Business Summit press conferences. However, today's event was unusual because it was the first time that a press conference for a charity fund was held since the China-US Business Summit was established a decade ago.
Convening at 1:30 pm on March 4th, more than ten major Los Angeles Chinese-language media stations, including Phoenix Satellite TV, World Daily, Sing Tao Daily, China Daily, National TV, and American Associated Press attended.
A Perfect Love Foundation's Release Team
Foundation team members included the founder of the China-US Business Summit and the founder of "A Perfect Love" Foundation, Steven Shen; Foundation Advisory Committee representative and also co-chair of the China-US Business Summit, Kim Holland; co-founder of the "A Perfect Love" Foundation and also consultant to the China-US Business Summit Advisory Committee, John Shen; Donor Jinyi Zhang; Volunteers Fen Tian and Pauline Ghim were also guests of the China-US Business Summit. The dual roles of these team members represent the bond between "A Perfect Love" Foundation and the China-US Business Summit.
Steven Shen, founder of A Perfect Love Foundation (left) and co-founder John Shen (right)
According to the charter of A Perfect Love Foundation, founders and co-sponsors donate a minimum of $30,000 (there is no limit on the amount for ordinary donors). Because some co-founders were still in China, they could not be on-site for the press conference. The only co-founder present was Steven Shen’s younger brother, John Shen, who lives in Los Angeles. This reminds us of an old Chinese saying—“If fighting a tiger, rely on your blood brothers; when fighting a war, rely on your father and sons.” At the press conference, John Shen not only demonstrated his participation as a co-sponsor in the foundation, but at the same time, his Akashi Foundation also reached an agreement with A Perfect Love Foundation to provide professional directors to manage the funds of the foundation and to ensure the annual income of the fund, so that the foundation can donate money every year with the money earned from the original fund. Ensuring the long-term interests of donors and the foundation enables them to sustainably grow. This measure has enabled "A Perfect Love" to operate in the same way as large international public welfare foundations do right from the very start. At the press conference, John Shen also gave detailed answers to the questions raised by journalists interested in this matter.
Ms. Jinyi Zhang (left) made a donation in check
Jinyi Zhang, a retired 80-year-old woman, said: "I was touched by Steven Shen's commitment, so I must donate." She gave a three thousand-dollar check to President Steven Shen during her remarks. In this way, she became the first donor to the foundation other than the founder and co-founder.
A Perfect Love Foundation Consultant Kim Holland (left) and founder Steven Shen (right)
Kim Holland, who serves as a consultant to A Perfect Love, also attended. She is a woman who has been running a charitable non-profit for many years, and she said something thought-provoking: "We all know how much responsibility it is, and sometimes how difficult it is, to raise a child of our own. That being said, it is even harder to raise someone else’s child. So when families adopt, they must not only be dedicated and take on additional responsibilities, but they must have extraordinary love. For those who choose to adopt a child with a disability, they must not only have all the traits described above, but they also must have enough courage and sufficient financial support. We all know how expensive medical care in the United States is, and one can only imagine how much it costs to care for a child with cerebral palsy or to cure another child of some other condition? So, the existence of this foundation has an incalculable practical significance."
Founder Steven Shen explaining the concept of the A Perfect Love Foundation to Fen Tian
The last one who arrived at the press conference was the Ms. Fen Tian, who signed up as a volunteer and looks much younger than her 79 years. She shared a personal experience she had on the plane when she flew back to Los Angeles a few years ago. Sitting near her on the plane was a couple from America holding a baby they had just adopted from China. When she leaned over and saw that the child’s face, she knew that the infant had a disability, and she said to the couple: “She is so lucky!” This couple said in response: "We are the lucky ones!"
When I heard this my heart shook with emotion. I turned away because I didn't want her to see my tears.
The person the reporters questioned the most was the founder of "A Perfect Love", Steven Shen. In the course of being interviewed, he enthusiastically explained the meaning of the Foundation's red, yellow, and blue tri-color circular logo:
This logo represents a father, a mother and a child holding hands, and when looked at as a whole, it is the image of a smiling face. The meaning is very straightforward. Mom and Dad are standing on top, sheltering the child from the wind.
From a birds-eye view, the pattern looks like three people holding hands and dancing. It is very dynamic.
The red, yellow and blue colors are vivid and symbolize a happy life, and at the same time, they also represent diversity. For the word “love,” the traditional Chinese character is being used, because there is the character for "heart" in the middle of that character.
Finally, when talking about the meaning of A Perfect Love Foundation, Steven Shen made the following points:
Let more Chinese know this fact - nearly 100,000 abandoned Chinese babies are raised by families in America (and pretty much everyone he has contacted with knowledge about this matter knows this fact).
Let everyone feel that the Chinese also have love without borders. Let the world know that the Chinese nation is a nation that knows gratitude.
Let families in America who have adopted these disabled children benefit from our support, so we can help ease their financial burdens.
Let Chinese children in these adoptive families have more opportunities to develop in body, mind, and spirit.
In the end, encourage more loving families to adopt abandoned Chinese children, so that more can escape the tragic circumstances of their birth through adoption.
Steven Shen ended the interview with this sentence: "Through this process, the soul of each participant has been elevated, answering a very fundamental question: ‘Why should I live?’"
China-US Business Summit Media Department
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