Describing the program as "win-win," she says it both helps meet an urgent social need and provides a stable career path to a large group of migrant workers.

"It is predicted that in 20 years, there will be 4 million senior citizens in Shanghai," she says.

At this time, almost 21 percent of city residents are over 60 and 90 percent of them live at home, says Xia. "It is very hard to find qualified caregivers for these seniors and this is an urgent long-term need in our society."

Recently trained caregivers also addressed the Rotary meeting and described how they have benefited.

Trainee Ms Xu says the training helped her listen to and care for her patients better and to pass on to them the detailed health information she had learned.

"Now my patient listens to my advice about her health care," she says. "I learned about a lot of things like high blood pressure, and I was able to help my patient by passing on this knowledge. I have become like a family member."

One of the central figures in the relaunch of the club in the early 1990s is Frank Yih, chairman of the club's service project committee.

Born in Shanghai, Yih moved to the United States where he earned a graduate degree from MIT and worked on the world's first microchips in Silicon Valley.

The retired businessman oversees fundraising for Rotary projects, including AIDS awareness, providing water in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and providing winter kits for survivors of the Sichuan earthquake.

The club's major fundraising event of the year was the annual Golf Day; this year members raised more than 590,000 yuan.

One of the club's signature projects is its "Gift of Life" program funding surgery for children with congenital heart conditions.

The club has funded 235 life-saving operations at the Shanghai Chest Hospital and at Suzhou's Kowloon Hospital over the years, says Yih.

The club is always looking for new members. Anyone interested in joining can find more information at www.rotaryshanghai.org.

(Shanghai Daily December 25, 2008)