Donations pour in for will registration center

It is a loving rally with donations flooding into offices of the China Will Registration Center in Shanghai for a philanthropic program to help elderly citizens register a will with free services provided.

The center announced on Monday that 500,000 yuan (US$72,298) has been collected from social donations to support the program, and 400 seniors in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou will be the first group of beneficiaries.

The program, launched by the will registration center, Tencent Charity Foundation and the China Aging Development Foundation last week, targets citizens above 60 who have only one apartment.

It offers free consultations, mental-health assessments and will-preservation services in addition to free registration.

Donations ranging from 1 to 5,000 yuan primarily came from residents and entrepreneurs, both online and offline, according to Chen Kai, director of the will registration center's management committee.

"We have received warm responses from residents and some contributions even came from elderly residents in Shanghai," said Chen.

At the will registration center's second service center in Shanghai, auntie Zhang in her 60s rushed to make a donation.

"I have registered a will and wanted to make a contribution when learning the news," she said.

Many donors are young people.

"Elderly citizens, particularly those living alone, need care from society and this is a meaningful program," said Chen Meng, 28. "Will registration may become a trend."

Applications for the free services will begin on Tuesday.

The arrangement of property and quality of life in twilight years have become the major concerns of many elderly citizens, and will registration helps them eliminate those concerns to some extent, center officials said.

Ti Gong

Grandma Zhan in her 90s went through a very difficult period. Both of her husband and son died. What's more, her daughter-in-law left her, leaving Zhan alone and bitter.

A good friend of Zhan's son surnamed Wang lent a helping hand with arranging the funeral of her son and taking care of the senior's day-to-day life. Zhan recently registered a will to leave her house to Wang.

"Wang is like the brother of my son and I trust him," said Zhan. "I have designated Wang as my guardian when I can no longer take care of myself, which eliminated my worries."

Founded in 2013, the will registration center has approximately 60 branches across the country, three of which are in Shanghai.

It has registered about 220,000 wills and provided service to around 310,000 people.

Over the past three years, the coronavirus pandemic and unexpected accidents have prompted people to consider registering wills, Chen said.

The number of will registrants has continued to increase in recent years, growing 7.7 percent last year from a year earlier and 20.8 percent since 2019, according to the will registration center.

Shanghai's population of people 60 and above grew by more than 87,000, or 1.6 percent, in 2021 from a year earlier, accounting for more than 36 percent of permanent residents.