On March 9, students and teachers from Yew Chung International School of Beijing joined nearly 200 of their fellow students and staff from across our Yew Chung and Yew Wah network of schools, in Tongxiang to stage the 2019 Seeds of Hope Concert, our annual charity fundraiser. 

While the Seeds of Hope concert started in 2014, YCEF’s Seeds of Hope charity project officially launched in 2011. As an important part of YCEF schools’ commitment to character education, the Seeds of Hope concerts raise money for a Seeds of Hope common project. The common project since 2017 has been to build a much-needed secondary school in Manila.

YCEF has been raising funds for schools in impoverished areas through over 300 fundraisers ranging from bake sales to concerts since 2008. The Seeds of Hope charity initiative grew out of these efforts, which began in 2008 following Sichuan earthquakes. It was then that we began to sponsor less fortunate schools, especially those affected by the disaster.

YCIS Beijing sent a delegation of 10 to the Seeds of Hope concert this year. The YCIS Beijing contingent contributed to the grand affair by performing in the orchestra, providing the pre-concert and intermission music, taking part in the choir and performing a ballroom dance. Despite the small size of the gathering, our contributions did not go unnoticed. Our ballroom dancers’ performance proved the highlight of the evening. Our CEO and Supervisor, Dr Betty Chan Po-king even personally met with our dancers to congratulate them following the show.

The event was a huge success, selling 400 tickets and providing a bit of glamour and excitement for the families, friends, staff, and senior leaders from across our YCEF network who gathered on the night to support this worthy cause. The night’s guests were treated to a variety of entertainment. In addition to the choir, orchestral and ballroom dance performances our YCIS Beijing staff and students took part in, there were also drama, classical folk music, and large-scale stage presentations.

While the entire YCEF network of schools all contributed to the success of this year’s Seeds of Hope concert, we would like take a moment to acknowledge and thank our YCIS Beijing students and staff who worked very hard to prepare for and add to the magic of the evening.

Students

1. Rehsade “Marie” Iles: who played the euphonium in the orchestra
2. Yuxuan “Melody” Su: who played the keyboard in the orchestra
3. Zuer “Elva” Zong: who played the erhu solo for pre-concert & intermission music
4. Sofia Dementyeva: who performed a ballroom dance
5. Vladimir Dementyev: who performed a ballroom dance

Teachers

1. Erin Luce: who played the saxophone in the orchestra and chaperoned the female students
2. Ai Li: who played the violin in the orchestra
3. Cindy Guo: who played the violin in the orchestra
4. Aimee Frederes: who sang soprano in the choir
5. Casey Fanning: who chaperoned the male students

We would like to also thank our sponsors and donors.