A US-based charity foundation announced Sunday that it will donate 475,200 US dollars to 20 disabled children at an orphanage in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The fund will cover the cost of living in upcoming six years for the 20 children at an orphanage in Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili in western Xinjiang, said Dale Ditto, member of the directorate of the "A Helping Hand Foundation."

Ditto made the announcement after his 18-member delegation arrived in this capital city of Xinjiang to launch a six-day program on assisting local disabled orphans.

The foundation will also donate a mini-van for the orphanage and arrange training courses for its staff, Ditto said.

The charity organization plans to expand its program to more regions across Xinjiang along with the Xinjiang charitable society. More disabled orphans are expected to receive medical treatment in the United States and have their own rehabilitation centers in some orphanages in Xinjang, he said.

Since it was founded in 1996, the foundation has provided aids to children's welfare homes in many Chinese cites including Xi'ning, Xi'an, Lanzhou and Shenyang cities and helped some 1,000 American families adopt Chinese orphans.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2005)