A girl sits in front of a billboard promoting a charity dog walk, April 13, 2019. [Photo provided to China Daily]
The idea of raising money through a weight loss challenge was the brainchild of Marie Willman, a 34-year-old Canadian woman living in Suzhou.
"I never expected it to become this big," she says."I thought maybe 20 or 30 people would sign up to the first one and that would be it."
But her expectations were quickly surpassed, with an incredible 136 people taking part in last year's event, raising 13,600 yuan.
"This year, I'd be thrilled if we could get 200 participants – it would really help raise public awareness."
With public fundraising activities difficult to organize this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the role of corporate sponsors in the challenge is especially important. So far, more than 65 businesses have signed up to donate cash and prizes, enabling the organizers to raise a significant amount of money.
William Shipton-Jiang, 40, is a partner in Shanghai-based Breakfast Champion, a popular supplier of Western breakfast meats. His firm is one of the corporate sponsors supporting this year's event.
"I have lived in Ningbo for the past eight years, and in that time I've personally rescued five dogs and 10 cats – at one time I even had nine cats and a dog in my flat," he says.
"Two of us here at the company have been doing our own weight loss challenge recently, so when we were approached to be sponsors for the challenge it seemed like a natural fit for us."
Tamura Noriko, 47, a Japanese expat living in Wuxi, is also assisting with this year's event. She spends her time helping to runSCARS and was particularly keen on the idea of a weight loss challenge, feeling that it would be an appropriate way to fundraise at a time when many are still practising social distancing.
"I think losing weight is one of the few things people can do together without actually getting together, and with many like-minded people doing it for a cause they care about, it provides them with extra motivation," she says.
While the weight loss challenge might sound like a bit of fun to many, it has a serious purpose behind it, and the organizers are keen to stress that it isn't just about raising awareness today – it's about changing attitudes for tomorrow.
"This is a way to make the community more aware – to educate people, to let them know we're here and can help, and to encourage people to properly care for their pets," says Bijloos.
Register to take part via WeChat: HeatherBijloos
