The China Charity Federation (CCF) on Monday donated 410 million yuan (59.87 million U.S. dollars) to quake-hit Sichuan Province for construction of housing projects, schools, hospitals and other reconstruction projects.

CCF President Fan Baojun said at a donation ceremony that the fund would be used to build residence for more than 8,000 quake-affected households, 28 schools, four hospitals, 28 welfare facilities, and a preservation facility for the ethnic Qiang culture.

The money will also help more than 1,000 villages and towns to build a network on sharing disaster relief information.

"To commemorate and show gratitude to donors, all the projects under donation will each have a board or a plate inscribing the donors' names and the amount of money donated," he said.

By last Thursday, the CCF, one of the largest nationwide charity organizations in China, had received donations worth of over 1.08 billion yuan in both cash and goods for earthquake relief.

All the goods which worth of 156 million yuan had been forwarded to the worst-hit Sichuan Province, and nearly 180 million yuan were used to purchase relief supplies including movable houses, tents, quilts and food for quake-affected people in Sichuan.

After the 8-magnitude earthquake in China's southwest on May 12 that killed about 69,000 people, Chinese and foreign donors contributed about 76.2 billion yuan for relief and rehabilitation, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2008)