Founded in 2005, China Care Bruins became the first West Coast chapter of the China Care Foundation’s network of campus clubs. China Care Bruins collaborated with the Southern California chapter of Families with Children from China to create the Youth Mentorship “Buddy Program.” What began as a small club where a few adoptees played and interacted with other adoptees and their “big buddies” quickly became an award-winning mentorship model for other China Care clubs. In 2009, the national China Care Foundation affiliated with the OneSky Foundation (previously known as the Half the Sky Foundation).
As the club grew in number of families and student volunteers, we began to explore other areas where we could volunteer our time and services not only to our little buddies but also to other Chinese adoptees still in China. Thus began our Fundraising program that supports life-changing surgeries for orphans in China. (China Care Bruins received the 2011 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy Award from Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and the Asian Pacific Community Fund for its fundraising and community service.)
Now as we enter our 18th year, our club has grown to include international and domestic adoptees from many countries outside of China only, hence our new title of Community Care Bruins. We have roughly around 40 little buddies, 55 UCLA student volunteers, and new divisions of our club such as Outreach, where we spread awareness of adoption, and Social, where we foster relationships between our college members. We can’t wait to see what the new year brings!
Community Care Bruins (CCB) 