Prologue · Letter and Wish: Starting with a Letter

"This month we are learning how to express kindness, and I hope my letter can bring warmth to you far away." Second and third graders leaned over their desks, describing campus life stroke by stroke on their letter paper, drawing hearts and little suns, before carefully sealing their envelopes. These letters would soon travel across mountains and seas to reach their peers at a sister school in Yunnan. The exchange of letters forged a bond across thousands of miles — and this bond, fittingly, became the warmest prologue to the 2026 Hongkou Campus Charity Fair.

On May 28th, the third Hongkou Campus Charity Fair, themed "Opening with Love, Acting with Kindness", took place. The campus was filled with an outpouring of compassion, as students, teachers, parents, and caring members of the community gathered once again. Guests signed the welcome board and took photos, capturing the warmth of the moment. The funds raised from this event were designated for four groups in need: disadvantaged children, left-behind children in mountainous areas, children suffering from illnesses, and students from financially struggling families in the North Bund Subdistrict. The reach of this charity fair went beyond a simple donation — it was a heart-to-heart conversation, using love as a thread to connect care for distant friends, concern for children in hospital beds, and support for struggling families close to home.

Symphony of Co-creation · Preparation:

Home and School in Harmony, Three Grades, Three Colors of Brilliance

Preparation for the charity fair had quietly begun a month earlier. This year, students truly took center stage as "young entrepreneurs". Within a project-based learning framework, children formed groups and competed for roles such as "booth manager", "financial officer", and "designer". They made handicrafts, designed creative posters and price lists, honing their teamwork and business acumen in real-world scenarios. Homeroom teachers introduced the social significance of the charity fair through special lessons and guided students in developing operational strategies. Teachers also created their own charity products to sell, leading by example.

Parents assembled as a "think tank" in an impressive display to leverage their unique strengths, creating an interlocking picture of home-school collaboration.

Third-grade parents, as "veteran participants" of the fair, took the lead in designing a brand-new official logo and themed T-shirts, infusing the event with a fresh sense of brand identity through unified visual symbols. Second-grade parents drew on last year's successful experience and launched an "online pre-sale" model, which generated enthusiastic attention; at the same time, they proactively shared practical insights on booth operation and product pricing with first-grade families, ensuring that the relay of kindness was both heartfelt and well-organized. First-grade parents, though participating for the first time, proved equally impressive — those with expertise in planning leveraged their professional skills to redesign the overall booth layout and customer flow, striving to create a more professional and comfortable "charity marketplace" experience. The three grades worked in tandem and complemented each other, making charity the most vivid practical classroom for home-school co-education.

Innovation · Making Love Flow: Three Heartwarming Practices

Building on a solid foundation of preparation, this year's fair further expanded the forms of charitable expression, achieving three heartwarming innovations that made the flow of love more creative, warm, and profound.

The first innovation was a new model. Classes 1-1 and 2-2 continued and deepened the strategy of "online pre-heating + offline ignition". By releasing their charity sale items in advance, they attracted attention from more families and external supporters, building momentum and love ahead of time. The online pre-sale not only warmed up the event but also extended the impact of charity from the campus to a broader space, achieving a two-way connection from the cloud to the venue.

The second innovation was a green initiative. Parents from Class 3-1 launched the "3-minute Green Action" initiative, in which children brought old T-shirts and transformed them on-site into fashionable eco-friendly bags, pillow covers, and keychain ornaments. Through the process of cutting, designing, making, and selling, old items were given new value. The fair not only involved goods selling, purchase, and activities, but also quietly conveyed the concept of resource circulation through the children's hands-on practice, adding a low-carbon touch to the cause of charity.

The third innovation was a heartfelt connection. Letters written in reply to students in Yunnan, together with a charity art exhibition, jointly extended this warmth across distances. Second and third graders expressed their care and good wishes through their letters, giving tangible form to their concerns for distant friends. Meanwhile, Amy from Class 3-1, as a class representative, participated in the "Flow of Love — Hand in Hand Across Borders, Love Without Boundaries" Chinese and International Children and Youth Painting Exhibition and Performance, hosted by the Shanghai Children's Foundation. Through her brushstrokes, she conveyed kindness, allowing Hongkou Campus's charitable efforts to be seen and shared on a larger stage.

From online pre-sales to eco-friendly upcycling, and a reply letter to a painting, this year's charity fair was no longer just a one-day event. It became a real-world practice through which children learned to express kindness, understand responsibility, and connect with the world. Love flowed through creativity and continued to grow through action.

The Buzzing Charity Marketplace: Warm Moments from 40 Stalls

When these heartwarming ideas turned into real action, the entire campus came alive. On the day of the event, the basketball court was transformed into a cube of love. Participants left their sincere wishes on the welcome board and took photos together. In no time, the basketball court became a bustling "charity marketplace" with 40 stalls neatly arranged, as students and parents turned into the most enthusiastic salespeople. What was even more delightful was that many students stepped beyond their own stalls, bravely leaving their comfort zones and weaving through the crowds with products in hand, actively introducing features and sharing the meaning behind the charity sale. Their energetic efforts became one of the liveliest and most eye-catching sights in the marketplace.

The products on sale were wonderfully diverse and creative. Homemade handicrafts, carefully selected books, stationery, and toys — these traditional charity sale staples were certainly present, but what stood out even more was that students from Class 3-1 sold self-created comic books. These one-of-a-kind original works drew many visitors of all ages to stop and browse, becoming one of the most uniquely original highlights of the fair.

 Among the many stalls, several were particularly noteworthy.

The "Que Yi Qiang Qiang" stall was specially set up for "Honey Babies" (children with Down syndrome), selling beautifully designed cultural and creative products derived from their own hand-painted artwork. "Children of the Stars" (young adults with autism) made pour-over coffee on-site, conveying through their focused attention a heartfelt desire "to be seen and recognized". Their warmth and strength moved everyone present.

On the other side, the "Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbal Fragrance" stall was equally popular. A professional team offered experiences such as pediatric TCM pulse diagnosis, adult TCM massage, and herbal sachet and bracelet making. Parents and children, taking a break from browsing the fair, came by to experience the charm of traditional Chinese medicine culture, gaining a unique kind of health and wellness through charity.

The teachers' stall was also a huge hit, with the handmade charity crafts receiving much favor. Student stalls showcased their creativity — some featured blind box raffles, others offered interactive games. The activity area was filled with laughter, as basketball tosses, gachapon machines, and other activities attracted families to take on challenges together, infusing charity with the joy of fun and play.

The climax came at a moment of surprise — students from the Chinese classical dance elective class took the stage first, performing a flash mob dance "Lichun" (The Beginning of Spring). With their light and graceful movements, they sketched the vitality and hope of spring returning to the earth. Their graceful yet powerful dance instantly captured everyone's attention. Then, the children of the GLEE club presented a flash mob singing of "Count On Me". As they sang, they moved to warm, simple dance gestures. The lyrics "You can count on me like one, two, three, I'll be there" echoed through the crowd, feeling like the most sincere promise to all the peers receiving their help. The two flash mob performances, one after another, instantly ignited the atmosphere.

Then came the lucky draw, which had parents and children holding their breath in shared anticipation, pushing the event to wave after wave of excitement. For the students round, the prizes were custom stickers featuring student hand-drawn artwork, carrying the innocence and creativity of the young artists. For the adults round, the prizes were SHSID commemorative items of special significance, embodying campus spirit and the warmth of charity.

The Power of Kindness: Where the Kindness Goes and the Echo of Smiles

From careful preparation to the lively venue, from innovative practices to selfless dedication, students, teachers, parents, and partner organizations worked together to create this charity event full of love and creativity. The funds raised from this event will be precisely directed to the following projects: the Shanghai Children's Foundation "Sunshine House" and "Love Baby Action", bringing care to children in hospital beds; the World United Charity Foundation "Children's Heart Charity Program: Duck Eggs for Sneakers", providing new sneakers to left-behind children in mountainous areas; the North Bund Subdistrict Educational Support for Students from Families in Need program, supporting students from financially struggling families in the community; and the Jun'ai Charity "Que Yi Qiang Qiang" Project, which continues to empower children with Down syndrome and autism through artistic creation, supporting their physical and emotional growth, and building a quality platform for self-development and the expression of their value.

The echo of kindness has never ceased. Every year, the beneficiary organizations send feedback to the school about the children's growth and changes — this year, we received thank-you letters from the children we supported, sharing their feelings about their school lunches, with lines full of pure gratitude. We also received an English transcript recording the academic progress of one of the students we helped. These concrete and subtle pieces of feedback allow every participant to truly feel that once kindness takes root, it grows and blooms in another corner of the world.

Here, the Hongkou Campus extends its most heartfelt thanks to all the parents who participated with enthusiasm and generosity, to the tireless parent volunteers, to the teachers who provided careful guidance, to the hardworking on-site staff, and to our long-term partners: the Shanghai Children's Foundation, the World United Charity Foundation, the North Bund Subdistrict, and Jun'ai Charity. It is through the collective efforts of everyone that this kindness has been passed on and this warmth has been sustained.

Epilogue · Tiny Lights Form a Torch, the Next Stop is Love

As dusk gradually fell, the 2026 Hongkou Campus Charity Fair came to a successful close amid laughter and emotion. This year's fair — from the upcycling of an old T-shirt to a letter written to a peer far away, from carefully arranged stalls to the donations that came together — allowed children to experience charity through real action, and to understand responsibility, empathy, and sharing through personal participation.

Although the fair lasted only one day, the flow of love does not stop here. For the Hongkou Campus, the charity fair is not just a campus event; it is a lesson in philanthropy facing the real world. Looking ahead, the school will continue to join hands with families and community partners, enriching the forms of charity and expanding its platforms, so that the charity fair becomes an annual campus signature event with even more warmth and greater impact.

As the belief conveyed by this event states: "Harmony in Giving Together, We Make a Difference." Every small act of kindness holds the power to illuminate others; every sincere action can be the beginning of change. When countless tiny lights come together to form a torch, that warmth will reach even farther places.

The next stop — love will continue. The Hongkou Campus will move forward with this original aspiration, looking forward to meeting again next year, letting kindness take root in children's hearts and letting warmth live on endlessly in the wider world.

(Written by Nina Kang

Pictures by Parent Volunteers, Rachel Wu, Elaine Zhu

Reviewed by Ms. Zhu Dan, Chenli Shen, Shiyu Wu)