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This BEAN is good for you
By Sam Riley |
October 27, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN BEAN started two years ago it was a small group of young working professionals in marketing, fashion and education interested in doing volunteer work along with a bit of social networking.
The community outreach organization now boasts more than 1,800 members and has engaged with a broad range of community projects around Shanghai from distributing mooncakes to the elderly to helping educate primary school students about dental hygiene.
One of the driving forces behind this rapid growth has been the current president of BEAN, Sheila Seiler. Seiler is also a Year 6 teacher at the Yew Chung International School of Shanghai and she says the rapid growth of the organization - now one of the biggest volunteer organizations of its type in the city - can be put down to a simple formula.
"We focus on the quality of our events, that they add value both for the charity we are helping and the volunteers," she says.
"We want to ensure that anyone can come in and volunteer and there should be no language requirement, the event should be easy to get to and for an organization clearly in need and it should be something the volunteer or charity could not do any other way."
Seiler, 31, began heading up BEAN in 2009 after its founding president Aimee Haynes, also a YCIS Shanghai teacher, returned home to law school.
The Shanghai branch of BEAN was established in 2008 because Haynes was frustrated at how difficult it was to get involved in volunteering in Shanghai.
BEAN organization has its roots in the Seattle area of the United States as a networking, volunteering and social group for engineers and business people.
A teacher in New York, Seiler came to Shanghai four years ago and currently teaches at the Pudong campus of Yew Chung International School of Shanghai. She has taught everything from kindergarten to college, where she taught journalism.
Seiler says she often feels like she is leading a "double life" as "the skills sets and demands are totally different." During the day she teaches her students and tries to promote an ethos of community service and charity. While at night, she leads the BEAN team to find ways to improve the community around them.
"I try to take a charitable approach to everything we do at school and always take the time to explain the social impact of everything we do to my students," she says.
In Shanghai, BEAN sponsors a migrant school and an orphanage, facilitating donations to the institutions plus a local disabled home and elderly care center.
Volunteers can be involved in weekly events held every Saturday and Sunday and a free networking event once a month.
In addition, BEAN holds up to three other social events each month designed to provide people with easy ways to learn more about Chinese culture, which include regular mahjong nights.
Seiler says membership is a mix of 60 percent foreigners and 40 percent Chinese, with BEAN designing volunteer events that do not require extensive language skills in either English or Chinese.
"BEAN is one of the few organizations that I know of where foreigners can meet true friends outside of work, mix with Chinese people and get to know the city on a different level than they would otherwise," she says.
Looking ahead, Seiler says she is keen to ensure BEAN uses what it has learned as an organization to help others wishing to help others in the community.
Along with a blog titled "do-gooder" that provides information on how to do volunteer or charitable work in Shanghai, Seiler is also launching "The Innovation Project" that will run in parallel to BEAN.
The project aims to be an incubator for people and groups looking to do philanthropic work or non-profit social innovation in the community. BEAN focuses on one-off volunteer events that aim to provide long-term support for a particular local organization but Seiler also wants to assist people looking to set up ongoing projects and other organizations focused on particular areas of need.
Seiler says BEAN already provides informal mentoring to groups and individuals but wants to provide a platform for them to get participants and share news about their work with others.
"My goal is to make volunteering mainstream and a normal part of life for Chinese people and foreigners in Shanghai," she says.
The community outreach organization now boasts more than 1,800 members and has engaged with a broad range of community projects around Shanghai from distributing mooncakes to the elderly to helping educate primary school students about dental hygiene.
One of the driving forces behind this rapid growth has been the current president of BEAN, Sheila Seiler. Seiler is also a Year 6 teacher at the Yew Chung International School of Shanghai and she says the rapid growth of the organization - now one of the biggest volunteer organizations of its type in the city - can be put down to a simple formula.
"We focus on the quality of our events, that they add value both for the charity we are helping and the volunteers," she says.
"We want to ensure that anyone can come in and volunteer and there should be no language requirement, the event should be easy to get to and for an organization clearly in need and it should be something the volunteer or charity could not do any other way."
Seiler, 31, began heading up BEAN in 2009 after its founding president Aimee Haynes, also a YCIS Shanghai teacher, returned home to law school.
The Shanghai branch of BEAN was established in 2008 because Haynes was frustrated at how difficult it was to get involved in volunteering in Shanghai.
BEAN organization has its roots in the Seattle area of the United States as a networking, volunteering and social group for engineers and business people.
A teacher in New York, Seiler came to Shanghai four years ago and currently teaches at the Pudong campus of Yew Chung International School of Shanghai. She has taught everything from kindergarten to college, where she taught journalism.
Seiler says she often feels like she is leading a "double life" as "the skills sets and demands are totally different." During the day she teaches her students and tries to promote an ethos of community service and charity. While at night, she leads the BEAN team to find ways to improve the community around them.
"I try to take a charitable approach to everything we do at school and always take the time to explain the social impact of everything we do to my students," she says.
In Shanghai, BEAN sponsors a migrant school and an orphanage, facilitating donations to the institutions plus a local disabled home and elderly care center.
Volunteers can be involved in weekly events held every Saturday and Sunday and a free networking event once a month.
In addition, BEAN holds up to three other social events each month designed to provide people with easy ways to learn more about Chinese culture, which include regular mahjong nights.
Seiler says membership is a mix of 60 percent foreigners and 40 percent Chinese, with BEAN designing volunteer events that do not require extensive language skills in either English or Chinese.
"BEAN is one of the few organizations that I know of where foreigners can meet true friends outside of work, mix with Chinese people and get to know the city on a different level than they would otherwise," she says.
Looking ahead, Seiler says she is keen to ensure BEAN uses what it has learned as an organization to help others wishing to help others in the community.
Along with a blog titled "do-gooder" that provides information on how to do volunteer or charitable work in Shanghai, Seiler is also launching "The Innovation Project" that will run in parallel to BEAN.
The project aims to be an incubator for people and groups looking to do philanthropic work or non-profit social innovation in the community. BEAN focuses on one-off volunteer events that aim to provide long-term support for a particular local organization but Seiler also wants to assist people looking to set up ongoing projects and other organizations focused on particular areas of need.
Seiler says BEAN already provides informal mentoring to groups and individuals but wants to provide a platform for them to get participants and share news about their work with others.
"My goal is to make volunteering mainstream and a normal part of life for Chinese people and foreigners in Shanghai," she says.
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