Bedrock Foundation

Three-year Granting Plan

09.04.2021

Feng Dong

Bedrock Foundation

2501 M ST NW UNIT 208 

WASHINGTON, DC 20037

Ⅰ. Background

Bedrock Foundation is issued as a charitable and educational organization within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Corporations Division of the Government of the District of Columbia on Feb. 5th, 2021 for the following purposes:

1. To aid the realization of everyone’s right to education, prioritizing the poorest and most vulnerable, and the belief that education plays a fundamental role in human, social, and economic development.
2. To pursue the essence of education and galvanize and coordinate better efforts to deliver a good and quality education;
3. To increase the quality of instruction and help ensure lasting education, and develop education strategies, promote collaboration in education, share solutions to challenges facing educators, and finance the implementation of programs.

The founding capital of the organization is USD 5 million.

Ⅱ. Granting Goals For The First Three Years

Bedrock Foundation plans to spend around one million dollars on educational projects from 2021 to 2023.

The Bedrock Foundation would like to support the fields of education during the first three years, including cross-cultural communication education, community history and culture, environmental protection education, humanities education, and traditional value advocacy and action education.

The current granting plan has five targeted projects and one backup project. Among the five targeted projects, two are from local non-full time-staff grassroots nonprofit organizations, two are staffed organizations, and one is an international project.

For different types of grantee organizations, the foundation will adopt different funding strategies and set corresponding goals. 

1. For grassroots organizations, Bedrock Foundation will adopt a granting strategy of trust-based philanthropy, simplify paperwork as much as possible in the early stage of the organization’s development, and focus on providing non-restricted funds. There are two goals when supporting grassroots nonprofits: (1) To support the education value of the organizations. (2) To support the sustainable development of the organizations.
2. For staffed organizations, Bedrock Foundation will implement the project-based granting strategy with the restricted fund and higher requirements for the project management and reports. Such grants have two goals: (1) To support the education value of the organizations. (2) To expand Bedrock Foundation’s impact.

In terms of grantee organizations, Bedrock Foundation hopes to select trustworthy partner nonprofits through the first three years of cooperation and prepare for long-term investment.

As a newly established foundation, to expand the impact of granting, improve operation efficiency and learn more about the philanthropy practices, Bedrock Foundation chose the strategy of co-granting. It formed a strategic partnership with Daofeng and Angela Foundation.

Ⅲ. Overview Of The First Three-year Granting Plan

In 201-2023, the Bedrock Foundation plans to provide five non-profit organizations with a total of 1 million US dollars in grants. The annual granting amounts are respectively 200,000 U.S. dollars, 300,000 U.S. dollars, and 500,000 U.S. dollars.

Regarding how to grant 1 million to 5 nonprofits in the first three years, Table 1 below provides an overview. 

Table 1: Bedrock Foundation Granting Plan for 2021-2023

Ⅳ. Project Introduction And Granting Description

This section will introduce the educational projects planned to be funded by the Bedrock Foundation in the next three years and the reason and progress of the granting.

1. CFHR Garden Building & Experiential Learning Project

Grantee Organization: China Folk House Retreat (CFHR)

Fund Type: Non-restricted Fund

3-year Granting Plan: 

Table 2: Bedrock Foundation’s 3-year Granting Plan to CFHR

Grantee Organization Introduction

The China Folk House Retreat (CFHR) is a non-profit 501c(3) organization providing experiential learning programs for students of all ages, families, and life-long learners in the greater Washington DC region.  CFHR offers a range of experiential learning opportunities, from day visits to the house site as a “living museum” to weekend workshops on sustainability and cultural programs, to a series of intensive two-week apprenticeships during the summer craft school. 

Official Website: https://www.chinafolkhouse.org/

Grantee Project Introduction

The Bedrock Foundation plans to provide three gifts in a total of 150,000 US dollars between 2021-2023 to The China Folk House Retreat (CFHR) for the Garden Building & Experiential Learning  Project.

The China Folk House Retreat (CFHR) preserves a farmhouse from the village of Cizhong that would have been inundated by a dam on the headwaters of the Mekong River by documenting the house and its landscape, disassembling and moving the physical structures, and then reassembling the homestead along the Shenandoah River at the Friends Wilderness Center in Jefferson County, West Virginia.

CFHR’s project mainly includes two dimensions, one is construction, and the other is educational activities. The project’s research goal is to understand the house as a text of its place, as a location of skill and craftsmanship, and as a tool of agricultural production, connected to its fields, orchards, and pasture. CFHR believes that rebuilding the house at the site along the Shenandoah River is ideal for this project of cultural translation because the similarities of landscape and folkways will make the CFHR a center for cross-cultural programs in experiential education, folklife studies, and environmental sustainability. When all the building projects are completed, CFHR will serve as an experiential, interactive museum showcasing the diverse folk cultures, vernacular architecture, agriculture, handicrafts, and folklife of northwest Yunnan. 

1. (1)Construction: 

As of the end of July 2021, CFHR has completed the construction of the gate（Figure 1） and the main structure of the main house (Figure 2). 

Figure 1 Gate of CFHR

Figure 2 Main House of CFHR

The gate wall and the main house were constructed with hempcrete, an eco-friendly material mixed with hemp hued, lime, and sand. The project uses this kind of material because it is similar to the original house’s traditional craft in Yunnan, China, and meets governmental building requirements. The green value is part of the educational meaning of this house. 

The kitchen (Figure 3) and bathroom (Figure 4) are under construction. 

Figure 3 Kitchen of CFHR

Figure 4 Bathroom of CFHR

The kitchen, bathroom, and main house’s roof are expected to be completed before the summer of 2022. 

The garden is the next major construction project of the CFHR Center. At present, CFHR has completed the garden project’s map surveying and feasibility assessment (see attachment for details). The working modules of the garden project will mainly cover the construction of a Chinese pavilion, two ponds, and a botanical garden.

The overall elevation view draft of the garden project is as follows:

Figure 5 Elevation view of Chinese Pavilion across the pond

Figure 6 Elevation View of CFHR from the dam

The Bedrock Foundation plans to invest 40,000 and 50,000 US dollars in 2021-2022 to support the construction of the CFHR garden project, including the overall planning and design of the garden, the silt dredging of two ponds, the structure of the barrier, and the construction of the Chinese pavilion. In 2023, the Bedrock Foundation will invest 60,000 US dollars to support the continued construction project and the educational activities, including the garden path and decoration, planting and maintenance of flowers and trees, and those cross-cultural educational events based on the house and garden. A possible plan is to open a three-dimensional planting yard in the garden to show that Chinese farmers use such agricultural technology to maximize space efficiency and deal with scarce arable land.

（2）Educational Activities:

Currently, CFHR has conducted three cross-cultural educational camps in 2019, 2020, and 2021. 

The inaugural program in the summer of  2019 was the reassembly of the timber frame of the China Folk House at its new home, the Friends Wilderness Center in Jefferson County,  West Virginia, by a team from the Timber Framers Guild in the Harpers Ferry area, high school and college students participating in an experiential work-study program, and community volunteers (Figure 7).  

Figure 7 CFHR experiential work-study program, June – July 2019

In 2020 additional student and community volunteers worked through the summer and fall to enclose the house in hempcrete walls, covered with lime render.  Master Builders Jonathan Morrison and Mathieu Lamarre continue to design and build the main house and other structures in the courtyard (Figure 8). 

Figure 8 Students are making the hempcrete walls in June-July, 2020

In the summer of 2021, a group of students and community volunteers worked together to complete the filling work of the hempcrete on the second floor of the main house, the reinstallation of doors and windows, the picture restoration, and the reorganization of Tibetan furniture （Figure 9）.

Figure 9 Students are introducing their work in summer camp, July 2021

In 2022 or 2023, the building and the garden will be served as the “China Folk House Living Museum” after completion. The theme of this museum includes not only the presentation of traditional Chinese aesthetics but also the intervention and destruction of the inheritance of beauty by external forces such as politics through historical events. The educational goal of this museum is not only to let people feel and marvel at traditional Chinese culture but to further arouse people’s reflection on the faults of historical and cultural inheritance.

On weekdays during the school year, CFHR can host school groups who come for a half-day or full-day to learn about folkways and the historical lessons about the cultural revolution in Yunnan by touring the house and gardens and taking part in some hands-on activities related to agriculture, cooking, tools, and traditional building practices.  

The Living Museum will charge visit tickets and provide lunch service and events to support part of its operating cost to supplement donations.

Besides the regular visit and event, CFHR plans to initiate a new project, “China Folk House Craft School,” to host an ongoing series of cultural exchanges and experiential education workshops with craftsmen and artists from Yunnan. CFHR will hold four consecutive two-week craft schools (typically from June 15 to August 15) to enroll up to 24 high-school-aged students in hands-on apprenticeships with Masters of Chinese crafts found in the China Folk House home region of northwest Yunnan.  Each year the program will focus on a different craft: silversmithing, wood carving, traditional tie-dye, jicama woodblock printing, landscape, and sacred tangka painting, or learning to play musical instruments such as the erhu and sanxian.  In addition to “embodied learning” in the apprenticeships, students will learn from CFHR staff about each craft’s cultural and historical contexts, including different levels of Chinese language lessons customized to the work activities.  Students will also participate in other camp activities, including hiking, swimming, and canoeing/kayaking on the Shenandoah River, gardening, cooking, and a host of wholesome games and activities.  The Craft School is a residential program at CFHR with college interns serving as camp counselors and CFHR staff instructors providing classes and facilitating the residencies of the Craft Masters. 

Granting Description

Based on three visits and several meetings, Bedrock Foundation decided to support CFHR in designing and developing the above educational activities and encouraging the organization to explore the sustainable operation model by providing non-restriction funding and involving community volunteers and network resources (Figure 10).

Figure 10 

Bedrock Foundation and Daofeng and Angela Foundation bridged a Chinese American community volunteer group to visit CFHR, July 2021

2. Lock House Rehabilitation 

Grantee Organization: C&O Canal Trust

Fund Type: Project-based Fund

3-year Granting Plan: 

Table 3: Bedrock Foundation’s 3-year Granting Plan to C&O Canal Trust

Grantee Organization Introduction

Founded in 2007, the C&O Canal Trust is the official non-profit partner of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The mission is to partner with the National Park Service to protect, restore, and promote the C&O Canal. The Trust engages communities and individuals to realize the Park’s historical, natural, and recreational potential.

The C&O Canal National Historical Park is the 8th most visited unit within the National Park System, welcoming nearly 5 million visitors a year. (This is more visitors than signature parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon host a year!) The C&O Canal Trust works in partnership with the C&O Canal National Historical Park to raise funds and resources to support maintenance and visitor programs in the Park.

Official website: https://www.canaltrust.org/about-us/about-the-trust/

Grantee Project Introduction

The Bedrock Foundation plans to provide three gifts in the total amount of 300,000 US dollars to the C&O Canal Trust between 2021-2023 for the Lock House Rehabilitation Project.

1. (1)General Background:

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal was built in the 1830s and was a vital shipping lifeline for the region during the mid-to-late- 1800s before railroads made it obsolete. Civil War-era houses where lock keepers and their families once lived line the 184-mile waterway, stretching from Washington to the Appalachians. Originally there were 57 lock houses; today, there are only 27, most of which have been sitting empty for years. 

Under the efforts of the C & O Canal National Park and C & O Canal Trust, seven lock houses have been rehabilitated and opened to the public for overnight stays. The location of these seven sites is shown on the map below (Figure 11).

Figure 11 Map of 7 rehabilitated lock houses along the canal

C&O Canal National Historical Park is mainly responsible for the selection and rehabilitation of the lock house. After the rehabilitation, these lock houses are operated by the C & O Canal Trust team.

This project was promoted by the Maryland Government Tourism Bureau and won many honorary awards, such as the 2020 Maryland Historical Trust’s Project Excellence in Preservation Partnerships. At the same time, the project has also received media attention and reports, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Lonely Planet, who have made special reports.

However, only No. 6, No.10, and No.21 are fully equipped with water and electricity among the seven open lock houses. The accommodation rate is relatively high. No. 49 has electricity but no water, and No.22, No.25, and No.28 have no water and electricity. Therefore, the occupancy rate is meager. According to the operation data provided by C & O Canal Trust, the total occupancy rate since inception (2012-2021)  is 36.64%. The profit since inception is only around 12,000 US dollars. The leading visitor group comes from the local community, namely the DMV area.

Facing significant challenges in operation, the park and the Trust team will not develop any lock houses which can not be equipped with water and electricity.

2. (2)New Site Plan:

C & O Canal Trust Board of Directors created a task force to guide the rehabilitating of a new lock house in July 2021. The C&O Canal National Historical Park (NHP) suggested two potential buildings to design and build a trendy Canal Quarters site.

1. Barr House on the Blackford Property near Lock 38 in Sharpsburg

o   Exterior Historical Assessment Report was completed last year and is attached to this project update.

o   Near Shepherdstown, WV, which is a trendy college town and hosts many tourists.

o   This location accomplishes a program objective to locate new lock houses in the western portion of the park.

§  Barr House is about halfway between our existing Canal Quarters Lockhouse 28 at mile marker 48.9 in Point of Rocks and Lockhouse 49 at mile marker 108.7 in Clear Spring. It is 30 miles in either direction.

2. Lockhouse 70 at Lock 70 in Oldtown

o   Appears to be in better condition than the Barr House.

o   Used recently as a visitor center and hosted tours periodically.

o   This lock house takes the Canal Quarters well into the Western end of the park.

§  At mile marker 166.7, it is about 18 miles from the western end of the park in Cumberland.

§  It is 58 miles west of Lockhouse 49 in Clear Spring, currently the program’s most western Canal Quarters lock house.

o   No documentation is available at this time.

At this time, NPS does not have a full Historic Structure Report (HSR) for either the Barr House or Lockhouse 70. It is a critical first step in planning the rehabilitation for either house. Discussions continue between the Trust and the C&O Canal NHP about the need to include the cost of the HSR in the project budget.

However, NPS provides an Exterior Historic Structure Assessment Report Draft for Barr House (see attachment).

Figure 12 Barr House

Granting Description

C & O Canal National Park is a national park with natural scenery and historical traditions, aligning with the education of historical practices that the Bedrock Foundation wants to promote. Besides, Bedrock Foundation is willing to support place-based philanthropy and thus would like to support nonprofit organizations like C & O Canal Trust in the DMV area to conduct community-based educational programs.

Through the recommendation of the Daofeng and Angela Foundation, Bedrock Foundation held its first meeting with C & O Canal Trust in May 2021 to formally discuss how to support more Lock House restoration and future operations. At the meeting, the three parties reached a willingness to cooperate: Bedrock Foundation will work with Daofeng and Angela Foundation to provide a total of one million US dollars in targeted funding for the Lock House Rehabilitation project.

On July 22, 2021, C & O Canal organized a site visit for the Bedrock Foundation and Daofeng and Angela Foundation to Barr house and Lockhouse 70 (Figure 13 & 14). Bedrock Foundation and Daofeng and Angela Foundation brought volunteers with professional construction knowledge backgrounds to support the site evaluation. All parties discussed the construction situation, the possibility of rehabilitation, and the market potential. All parties agreed that while examining the existing two options, C & O Trust will work with the park to identify new possibilities. Currently, C & O Canal has completed the donor review process following the Lockhouse Rehabilitation Workflow (see attachment).

Figure 13 Barr House Site Visit                     Figure 14 Volunteers Visited Lockhouse 70

3. The Chinese-language Bethel Series Training Camp

Grantee Organization: Flagstone Foundation

Fund Type: Project-based Fund & Non-restricted Fund

3-year Granting Plan: 

Table 4: Bedrock Foundation’s 3-year Granting Plan to Flagstone Foundation

Grantee Organization Introduction

Founded on December 18th, 2019, the initial goal of the Flagstone Foundation, which is a 501c(3) organization, is to assist the spread of the Gospel in China by promoting the Chinese version of the Bethel Series course and other activities.

The outbreak of Covid-19 at the beginning of 2020 quickly changed the plan and led the Foundation into a great humanitarian effort to fight against the pandemic and preserve lives. Flagstone Foundation participated in the Life Preservation Initiative Project sponsored by the Daofeng and Angela Foundation and made a significant contribution. The Flagstone Foundation completed the procurement, international transportation, and on-demand distribution of 420,000 non-surgical disposable masks and 39,480 N95 masks during the pandemic break-out period when the PPEs were the shortest. After the most urgent pandemic stage in the United States passed, the Flagstone Foundation began to think about fulfilling its mission in the context of the global pandemic. 

In 2021, Flagstone Foundation decided to open a  Chinese version of the Bethel Series course in the United States, providing Chinese American pastors and preachers with a panoramic Bible training course to promote Chinese Americans’ true understanding of Christian doctrines. 

Flagstone Foundation has no full-time staff, and the operation depends on volunteers. As a typical grassroots NPO, Flagstone Foundation has no official website.

Grantee Project Introduction

The Bedrock Foundation plans to provide three gifts in the total amount of 200,000 US dollars to Flagstone Foundation between 2021-2023 for The Chinese-language Bethel Series Training Camp for Chinese American Pastors and Preachers Project.

1. (1)General Background

The Bethel Series is a well-developed and widely used biblical training course in many countries. It provides a unique perspective on the Old Testament and New Testaments of the Bible. Over 6,000 congregations are enrolled, and more than 2,000,000 laypeople have graduated and benefited from the Bethel Series course for sixty years. It has been translated into English, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Spanish, and Chinese. More than a dozen countries and regions have participated in Bethel Series, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Costa Rica, Hungary, the United States, mainland China, Guinea, etc. 

The most significant difference between the “Panoramic Bible Course” and other Bible study programs is that, instead of searching through the scriptures sequentially, each volume and chapter are put together like a jigsaw puzzle, making a Panoramic depiction of God’s magnificent plan of salvation. This course placed the main historical events of the Bible in a vast picture of God’s salvation to show the power of God in a macroscopic manner, thus overcoming the restricted sense of sequential Bible study. Many believers, even pastoralists who have received strict theological training, have a sense of broadening their horizons after the Bethel Series study.

The copyright of Bethel Series courses belongs to “The Bethel Series.” This institution is located at 312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison, WI 53703. The official website is www.bethelseries.org.

 （2）About Chinese Version of Bethel Series

As a Chinese graduate of the Bethel Series, Rev. Lin Qiu （also named Pastor Paul Chu）has been authorized by The Bethel Series to translate courses into Chinese (Figure 15).

Figure 15 Rev. Lin Qiu and Bethel Series Boardmembers

Since then, Rev. Lin Qiu has been teaching in mainland China for 15 years. He traveled to 18 Chinese cities from 2007 to 2019 (Figure 16)  and held courses mainly in rural areas. Due to the pandemic outbreak in 2020, he has primarily provided online courses for churches in China since 2020.

Figure 16 The Pastoral Training Seminars Rev. Lin Qiu held in China during 2007-2019

（3）The Chinese-language Bethel Series Training Camp for Chinese American Pastors and Preachers

The original plan of the Flagstone Foundation was to support Rev. Lin Qiu to carry out the Chinese version of the Bethel Series in mainland China. However, due to the pandemic,  Flagstone Foundation decided to shift the focus of the foundation’s goal to supporting Rev. Lin Qiu to provide the Bethel Series training service for pastors and preachers of Chinese American churches in North America.

On May 10, 2021, Flagstone Foundation held a meeting to discuss the details and decided to initiate a new project – The Chinese-language Bethel Series Training Camp for Chinese American Pastors and Preachers.

The project got donations from the Bedrock Foundation and Daofeng and Angela Foundation.

1. The goal of the Training Camp Project

To preach the correct and systematic, and the comprehensive gospel of God to enable more people to believe in the Lord and help those who believe in the Lord to be more edified.

2. The approach of the Training Camp Project

The first step is to recruit pastors in Chinese churches or preachers in essential communities such as campuses.

The second step is to provide Bethel Series Chinese courses to study how to teach the class.

The third step is to follow up and support the pastors and preachers to carry out the Bethel Series Bible training for believers in their church or community to help believers have a more accurate and in-depth understanding of the gospel.

3. The Training Camp Project Structure

Funders: Daofeng and Angela Foundation, Bedrock Foundation

Co-sponsors: Flagstone Foundation, Rev. Lin Qiu

Supporter: The Bethel Series

（4）The 1st Training Camp

From May to June, the Flagstone Foundation organized two online briefing sessions around the Bethel Series Course. The foundation also tried to recruit students through telephone and email invitations. Finally, the first training camp enrolled seven students from Boston, South Carolina，and Virginia.

Flagstone Foundation successfully held the first 10-days training camp in Crystal City Marriott, Virginia, from July 26 to August 4, 2021. 

The 1st training camp had three modules ( Table 5 ), Training Course, Bible Museum Visit, and Graduation Ceremony Dinner.

Table 5: Agenda of The 1st Chinese-language Bethel Series Training Camp

 for Chinese American Pastors and Preachers

 Each lesson of the “Bethel Series” is accompanied by a symbolic drawing meticulously drawn by a famous illustrator. These pictures contain meaningful elements and enable students to firmly grasp the main content and concepts of each lesson, and they will not forget them for many years. Preachers and Bible study leaders can often find a series of sermon topics and Bible study content in each picture (Figure 17).

Figure 17 Rev. Lin Qiu Explains Illustrations for Students

Rev. Jeff Quinto, the Executive Director of The Bethel Series, delivered a speech on the history and global development trend of the Bethel Series at the graduation ceremony (Figure 18). The Bethel Series posted a blog on its website to honor the “First-ever” training camp.

https://www.bethelseries.org/bethel-blog

Figure 18 Rev. Jeff Quinto and Rev. Lin Qiu (Pastor Paul Chu) congratulate one of the students Hongmei Luan on her graduation.

The students gave high praise and positive feedback to the training camp.

“This class not only teaches us some knowledge of the Bible but also makes me feel the impact of life on life.” – Luan Hongmei, one of the graduated students of the 1st training camp

Figure 19 Group Photo of the 1st Training Camp, including 7 students, the founders and volunteers of Flagstone Foundation, Bedrock Foundation, Daofeng and Angela Foundation,  Rev.  Jeff Quinto, and Rev. Lin Qiu

（5）Current Progress And Future Plans

After the 1st training camp, Flagstone Foundation, Bedrock Foundation, and Daofeng and Angela Foundation visited two students to understand the possibility of promoting the Bethel Series in their church. At the same time, the project team decided to hold the second training camp from October 26 to November 3, and the scale will remain below ten people.

Granting Description

The founder of the Bedrock Foundation, Mr. Feng Dong, was deeply involved in the Life Preservation Initiative (LPI) as a volunteer and worked with the Flagstone Foundation team to source qualified masks in China and try their best to break through export barriers and transport them to the United States. Then, after the end of the LPI project, the Flagstone Foundation organized a three-day mini-seminar and invited Mr. Feng Dong and other board members of the Bedrock Foundation to listen to Rev. Lin Qiu presenting the Chinese-language Bethel Series course.

As a Christian, Mr. Feng Dong benefited a lot from the mini-seminar. He persuaded the Bedrock Foundation’s board that Christian civilization had played a decisive role in the development of modern philanthropy. Therefore, Bedrock Foundation believes that supporting Bethel Series is an essential point for humanity education.

Flagstone Foundation has no full-time staff. Bedrock Foundation not only provides project-based and nonrestricted funding but also volunteer actions to support the project. 

The Bedrock Foundation has provided 60,000 US dollars to support the 1st Training Camp. Besides the funding, Mr. Feng Dong, the founder of the Bedrock Foundation, contributed his business experiences to negotiate with hotels to find the best site for the training and connect with Chinese American churches and associations to promote the course. In addition, Mr. Feng Dong stayed on-site throughout the whole training process and served as a logistics volunteer for the students. 

4. Young Americans for Freedom

Grantee Organization: Young America’s Foundation (YAF)

Fund Type: Project-based Fund

3-year Granting Plan: 

Table 6: Bedrock Foundation’s 3-year Granting Plan to YAF

Grantee Organization Introduction

Young America’s Foundation is committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.

As the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement, the Foundation introduces thousands of American youth to these principles by providing essential conferences, seminars, educational materials, internships, and speakers to young people across the country.

Young America’s Foundation has a deep relationship with President Reagan. The foundation stepped forward to save President Reagan’s Western White House, Rancho del Cielo, in the spring of 1998 to preserve it as a living monument to Ronald Reagan to pass on his ideas to future generations. President Reagan committed himself to reach young people with his ideas—a goal that is also central to the Foundation’s mission.

The Foundation has several important centers and departments, including Rancho Del Cielo, The Reagan Ranch Center, Reagan’s Boyhood Home, the National Journalism Center, Young Americans for Freedom, and Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise, etc. 

In the fiscal year 2019, Young America’s Foundation spent $21,746,736 on educational programs. That accounted for 83% of YAF’s total operating expenses. It is through YAF programs – National conferences and seminars for high school and college students, the largest conservative campus lecture program in the country, Young Americans for Freedom chapters, National Journalism Center internships, and the Reagan Ranch project – that thousands of young people are inspired to become involved in the Conservative Movement. 

YAF Official Website: https://www.yaf.org/

Grantee Project Introduction

The Bedrock Foundation plans to provide three gifts in the total amount of 250,000 US dollars to YAF between 2021-2023 for Young Americans for Freedom Project.

1. (1)General Background

It can be difficult to hear conservative ideas at school. Many in academia espouse leftist ideas, yet the principles of free markets and limited government are rarely presented accurately. Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) brings students at school together to advocate for individual freedom, free enterprise, a strong national defense, and traditional American values by getting them involved with Young Americans for Freedom to start a chapter.

In 2011, Young America’s Foundation unified with Young Americans for Freedom, which serves as the Foundation’s chapter affiliate on college and high school campuses across the country. Founded by William F. Buckley, Jr. and a group of young conservatives in 1960 at his home in Sharon, Connecticut, Young Americans for Freedom today promotes to youth the principles of limited government, individual freedom, free enterprise, a strong national defense, and traditional values, as outlined in the Sharon Statement. The chapters accomplish this by participating in a wide range of campus initiatives, such as the 9/11: Never Forget Project, Freedom Week, and the GPA Redistribution Contest, among others; and by hosting prominent conservative speakers. 

Currently, the Project has 446 chapters, including 213 colleges and 228 high schools (Figure 20 & Figure 21).

Figure 20 The Location of YAF 446 Chapters

Figure 21 YAF College and High School Chapter Map

2. (2)Strategies and actions for cultivating young people

Ideally, students would get involved as early as high school. One of the project’s ongoing goals is to move to middle school ages. Students as young as 13 currently have access to resources from Young America’s Foundation, but typically, students get involved with Young America’s Foundation in high school. YAF reaches students at different stages of schooling, having freshmen in high school up to seniors in college as core participants in YAF programs and campus activities. All students naturally move on from YAF activities when they graduate from college. Students, upon college graduation, become alumni. Special alumni activities take place nationwide throughout the year, including events, trips to the Reagan Ranch, happy hours, and book events. However, the majority of the work focuses on the school students rather than alumni.

YAF relies heavily online on the recruitment of key students who could start and hold a chapter at school. Currently, YAF has 563,000 subscribers to YAF YouTube channel. Due to the strong work on digital media, in most cases, students come to YAF to start chapters. 

YAF provides various support to chapter leaders. 

• Hosting a conservative speaker is an important way for the chapter to impact its community. YAF provides toolkits and speaker resource libraries and teaching these campus clubs how to host speakers. 
• YAF hosts annual, sometimes bi-annual YAF Activism Training Seminars, which are dedicated to inviting the chapter leaders from across the country to YAF headquarters to have an intimate training seminar that sketches out the steps leaders will need to take to ensure their chapter’s success on campus. Leaders maintain regular contact with YAF staff.
• YAF supports students in their regular activism projects on campus from recruitment during student activity fairs, to their weekly meetings with fellow students, to the national YAF projects such as the 9/11 Never Forget Project, No More Che Day, Freedom Week, and others.
• Students will sometimes face hurdles at school, and YAF staff is a phone call away ready to advise. If necessary, YAF will step in with a legal team to put pressure on the school. However, YAF often has students do much of the legwork on their projects so that they can both take credit for the success of an event, but also, so that their skills will encourage the club that they can fight for their rights on campus and develop the perseverance to defend their values.
• Annual conferences are the most powerful way for creating solid chapters, motivating existing chapters, and preparing members to become future leaders. To avoid the dissolve problem of strong chapters at key schools after leaders’ graduation, YAF will bend over backward and try to help them get new members to the programs to create more loyal advocates for YAF on their campus who are underclassmen. YAF spends a lot of time on phone, email, and zoom, with chapters to help coach them through the many intricacies of group management and organization. 

（3）The Project and YAF’s Long Game

In 2021, the new president of Young America’s Foundation, Governor Scott Walker launched The Long Game, a campaign to impact America’s youth. The ambitious goal includes many future plans related to the Young American For Freedom Project.

• To establish a YAF presence on more than 4,000 Campuses.
• Bring a YAF speaker to campuses in all 50 states and add new speakers to the YAF roster, expanding the premier campus lecture program.
• Fight free speech violations by lawsuits.
• Organize more conferences and events programs to invite a new generation into the Conservative Movement.
• Create appealing programs for younger students in Elementary and middle school.

Granting Description

The Bedrock Foundation is willing to support YAF for two main reasons. First, the Bedrock Foundation sees the widespread problem of “political correctness” in the education system of American colleges and high schools. In the United States of free speech, the voice of conservatism cannot be expressed freely on campus. The Bedrock Foundation believes that this is an educational issue that needs to be improved urgently. Second, Daofeng and Angela Foundation will plan to invest USD 500,000-1,000,000 to support YAF. As mentioned earlier, as a strategic partner, Bedrock Foundation will follow the principle of joint funding and participate in the investment in this project.

At present, the joint funding team has completed the basic data investigation part of YAF’s due diligence work. Compared with similar institutions such as the Leadership Institute, YAF has outstanding performance in project and financial information disclosure and fundraising cost control. In July and September 2021, the joint funding team and YAF’s fundraising department conducted two rounds of project grounding discussions and obtained further project details, including a list of the existing 446 Chapter schools. In August 2021, Xuemei Feng, a member of the joint funding team participated in YAF’s 500-person annual meeting in Texas. At the annual meeting, she conducted random interviews with participating students and donors and received positive feedback.

Next, the funding process will enter the stage of project proposal discussion and project site visits. On the one hand, the fundraising department of YAF will submit project proposals and budgets, and it is expected that there will be 3-5 rounds of discussions and revisions; on the other hand, the joint funding team has proposed a request for project site visits,  including 10 campus chapter teams in DC, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, and Boston areas.

5.  “Clear Heart” International Philanthropic Cultural Communication and Research Program

Grantee Organization: The Asia Academy of Philanthropy (AAP)

Fund Type: Project-based Fund

3-year Granting Plan: 

Table 7: Bedrock Foundation’s 3-year Granting Plan to The Asia Academy of Philanthropy

Grantee Organization Introduction

The Asia Academy of Philanthropy (AAP) was jointly initiated by a group of well-known experts, scholars, and philanthropists in China and overseas. It was established in November 2012 as an innovative philanthropy strategy research institute in China. As a member of the United Nations Global Compact (No. UNGlobal Compact19724), the AAP advocates innovation in philanthropy through “philanthropy global cooperation” and “philanthropy cross-border innovation”, and introduces world wisdom to Chinese philanthropy and Chinese wisdom to the world philanthropy, thereby promoting the well-being of mankind, and realizing the vision expected by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development-“the balance of global social development, economic development, and environmental protection”. By constructing a philanthropy discourse system in the era of the creative economy, the AAP optimizes the philanthropy ecology; and is committed to innovative research and path construction in multiple fields such as philanthropy and high-tech, philanthropy and the new economy, philanthropy and new culture, philanthropy, and educational innovation, etc. AAP aims to become the engine of philanthropy innovation in Asia.

Grantee Project Introduction

The Bedrock Foundation plans to provide three gifts in the total amount of 100,000 US dollars to AAP between 2021-2023 for the “Clear Heart” International Philanthropic Cultural Communication and Research Program.

1. (1)General Background

The “Clear Heart” International Philanthropic Cultural Communication and Research Program (hereinafter referred to as the “Program”) was initiated by Daofeng and Angela Foundation in 2021. The Program selects outstanding applicants from philanthropy and the media industries in China and sends them to the United States to participate in a 16-week intensive professional English training, as well as a series of cross-cultural philanthropic public value courses. Besides the courses, the program requires applicants to participate in community public affairs research activities and communicate with local philanthropic organizations to explore solutions to social issues. The program provides scholarships to support the course expenses of selected students during their study period. Through the combination of course teaching and learning by doing,  the program expands the trainees’ international horizons, deepens their thinking and understanding of the deep public value of philanthropy, and cultivates the holding forces of philanthropic public value in China.

2. (2)Scholarship funding scope

The program has two semesters separately in spring and autumn each year, with 5-15 trainees in each semester, 20 trainees per year, and a total of 100 trainees are planned to be trained during the program. 

The project will offer a scholarship (16-week tuition fee) of USD 9,336 to each trainee approved by the review committee. Due to the exchange rate and other reasons, the initiators pay the scholarship directly to Georgetown University when the student enrolls in the university. In addition, the project will spend USD 1,500 per trainee to organize a series of cross-cultural philanthropic public value courses, eastern and western community public affairs comparative research activities, and communication with local philanthropic organizations, and this fee will be paid directly to the organizer of the event in the United States or other related parties as appropriate. Trainees shall bear any other expenses, including application fee, visa fee, transportation fee, living expenses in the United States, etc.

3. (3)Scholarship funding standard

Applicants are expected to have a certain degree of social experience, precipitation, in-depth reflection on current public value, philanthropy industry problems, and social pain points, eager to seek truth at the level of truth and “Tao” rather than skills, and are willing to learn from this project for China’s philanthropy cause to contribute to the development and international exchanges and cooperation, the following conditions must be met at the same time:

1. The organization the applicant currently serves is a non-profit organization or media legally registered in China, and the applicant is a full-time employee of the organization, and the organization supports the applicant to participate in this project;

2. Applicants are key leaders of their organizations or are responsible for critical positions and have influence and decision-making power for the organization’s development. Applicants from media should be editors at the senior level of the media, including traditional media and new media;

3. Applicants are expected to have social experience between 30-45 years old, bachelor degree or above, non-English major, and no experience of studying abroad in English as the main language of instruction;

4. Applicants should have basic English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, be good at communication and sharing and have a strong sense of teamwork;

5. Applicants and their organizations have a long-term concern about social issues, and believe that a cross-cultural perspective is helpful to the future development of this issue;

6. Applicants should commit to devoting enough study energy during the visit, live in a homestay to participate in community public activities without bringing family members and friends with them, and complete the learning tasks as required by the project.

Granting Description

The board of Bedrock Foundation has a solid Chinese philanthropic background and has an emotional connection with philanthropy in China. This is the major driving factor why Bedrock Foundation invests in this project. In addition, Bedrock Foundation is familiar with the leader of AAP and thus has trust as a base of the cooperation. The Bedrock Foundation believes that cross-cultural education activities are significant to promote the development of civil society, and the target group selected by the project will be the critical force that will influence the development of China’s third sector in the future. Therefore, the educational investment of this group is an issue worth supporting. In addition, this is also a co-funding project with Daofeng and Angela Foundation. Bedrock Foundation will learn more about designing and implementing an international education funding project from this cooperation.

6*.  AFC US Campuses Project

Grantee Organization: Ambassadors for Christ

Fund Type: Project-based Fund

3-year Granting Plan: 

Table 8: Bedrock Foundation’s 3-year Granting Plan to The Ambassadors for Christ

Grantee Organization Introduction

Ambassadors for Christ (AFC) is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and focuses on reaching Chinese intellectuals for Christ. 

AFC is called by God, in cooperation with local churches, to evangelize and disciple Chinese students and professionals in the United States and other parts of the world, to motivate and equip them to impact the culture for the Lord, and to mobilize and channel them into the service of Christ as a vital force for God’s Kingdom.

Like so many powerful Christian ministries, Ambassadors for Christ began as a meeting of concerned people. In 1956 Rev. Moses Chow and Ted, and Leona Choy met with Christiana Tsai, the “Queen of the Dark Chamber” in Paradise, PA. The Choys, who worked at that time with International Students Inc., invited Rev. Chow to participate in an upcoming Chinese Bible Study. The event gave birth to ongoing activities, including the initial publication of Ambassadors Magazine in October 1957. Chinese student ministries gained in urgency, and after much prayer for guidance from the LORD, Rev. Chow and the Choys founded Ambassadors for Christ on May 6, 1963.

In 1969 Rev. Moses Chow became Executive Director of Ambassadors for Christ. Under his leadership, AFC continued outreach to students and Chinese Bible Study Groups. In addition, outreach was launched directly into Europe and Asia via funding and short-term mission projects. On June 15, 1974 AFC Headquarters relocated from Washington DC to Paradise, PA, the property having been donated to AFC as a faith step by Christiana Tsai and Mary Leaman in 1966. Over the years, the facility has expanded to accommodate the growing Mainland Chinese Literature and AFC Bookstore operations. In addition, the Christiana Tsai Retreat Center, located in the farmhouse at the same location, has been continuously updated to house seminars, workshops, and retreats. 

The following decade saw God’s continued blessings on AFC’s ministries. Ambassadors Magazine began more frequent bi-monthly publication. In 1977 Rev. Hoy Him Chan, became Executive Director when Rev. Moses Chow pursued missionary work in Southeast Asia. Under Rev. Chan’s leadership, the first Directory of Chinese churches, Bible Study Groups, and Organizations in North America was published in 1980. Also, during this period, the Ambassadors for Christ Bookstore was established.

In 1983 Rev. David Chow was affirmed as Executive Director. That December, Chinese Mission ’83, the first triennial Chinese Mission Convention, was held in Washington DC. Under Rev. David Chow’s leadership, the Mainland Chinese Ministry Department was established in 1985.

During the following years, AFC focused on establishing campus ministries all across the U.S. in cities such as Dallas, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. In addition, the Chinese Christian Faculty Network is establishing relationships between College and University professors to coordinate outreach ministries to students in a much wider sphere of influence.

Recently, Ambassadors for Christ has launched into such forward reaching ministries as the development of a training and discipleship ministry, ministry in Europe, and a Chinese Mission Convention on the US West Coast and in the South (Houston, TX).

In years to come, the focus is sharpening upon ministry opportunities based in Europe and increasing influence in university campuses around the US. 

AFC Official Website: https://www.afcinc.org/en-us

Grantee Project Introduction

The Bedrock Foundation plans to provide three gifts in the total amount of 300,000 US dollars to AFC between 2021-2023 for AFC US Campus Project.

Figure 22 shows the primary location where Chinese students and scholars are located. States where AFC currently has active ministries include California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Tennessee. 

Figure 22 Heat Map Population Density of Chinese Students and Scholars in the US

There are currently more than 60 project workers on campus, including part-time professors. Several of AFC campus ministry staff workers also provide family and marriage counseling.

AFC takes four modules of strategic initiatives to fulfill its mission, including Campus, Training, Mission and Literature. There are four major sub-projects included in the Campus project, including I-9095 Network, C.A.T.CH, B.I.C, and Morning Devotion, which support students and young teachers on their academic achievement, career development, and social development relationship, mental health, and Daily Life (Figure 23).

   Figure 23 Four Modules of AFC Strategic Initiatives 

Granting Description

Bedrock Foundation believes that religion is also one of the important forces of holistic humanities education in addition to modern subject education. Due to the neglect of humanistic education in China’s overall education system, when Chinese international students encounter life and academic pressures and cultural shocks during their study in the United States, they generally encounter problems with values, psychological and mental health, etc. The Bedrock Foundation believes that AFC may be one of the better funding targets to solve this problem.

On August 24th, Feng Dong, the founder of Bedrock Foundation, and Daofeng He, the founder of Daofeng and Angela Foundation, visited the AFC headquarters together to express their funding intentions （Figure 24）. The two parties also discussed the possibility of cooperation in the Bethel Series project. 

At present, the funding of AFC is still in the stage of intention negotiation, and the formal inspection process has not yet been initiated.

 Figure 24 Bedrock Foundation and Daofeng and Angela Foundation visited AFC on Aug. 24, 2021.

V.  Conclusion

Overall, the Bedrock Foundation expects to invest between US$1 million and US$1.3 million in funding in education within three years. The targeted five nonprofit organizations include mature staffed organizations and volunteer-driven grassroots organizations. The granting supports diverse education fields, including cross-cultural communication education, community history and culture, environmental protection education, humanities education, and traditional value advocacy and action education.

Next, the Bedrock Foundation will promote the demonstration, inspection, and negotiation of the funding plan based on the joint funding strategy with the Daofeng and Angela Foundation.

As this is the first three-year funding plan of the Bedrock Foundation, the Bedrock Foundation will try its best to implement the above plan, but it may still face the risk of some projects failing to pass the final inspection on time. Therefore, the Bedrock Foundation set up an alternate funding plan (AFC), and at the same time, promoted the investigation and demonstration of the alternate funding plan.

For projects that are finally funded through review, the Bedrock Foundation will implement standardized management of the funding process and require all funded organizations to issue financial reports and project implementation reports.

VI.  Appendix

1. Bedrock Foundation Bylaw
2. Survey Map of China Folk House Retreat Garden Project
3. Survey Notes of China Folk House Retreat Garden Project
4. Assessment Report Draft for Barr House
5. The Lockhouse Rehabilitation Workflow