Rockets center launches The Yao Ming Foundation

Yao begins organization by helping rebuild schools in China

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HOUSTON -- He saw images of families displaced from their homes and read heart-breaking stories about the hundreds of people missing inside the rubble of buildings.

He spoke with a sports journalist who once covered the Rockets, getting a first-hand account of the destruction left behind by a devastating earthquake in China.

With every picture and story he could find, Yao Ming felt saddened by the destruction in his homeland.

"It is very hard to put into words how difficult it is to see this kind of destruction," Yao said.

The Rockets' All-Star center is now doing his part to help rebuild it.

Yao, a six-time NBA All-Star and member of the Chinese national team, has established The Yao Ming Foundation, a charity that will be supported by The Giving Back Fund. The foundation will raise funds and awareness for children's wellness and welfare issues in China and the United States. The initial focus of the charity will be to rebuild schools in China as the country recovers from the aftermath of a major earthquake.

The region, which was shaken by a 7.9-magnitude quake on May 12, is still recovering from the disaster. The earthquake has claimed thousands of lives and government workers continue to search for survivors.

Yao's foundation estimates that more than 8,000 classrooms and 185 schools were destroyed by the quake. He said his charity will focus on rebuilding those schools. The Rockets center will contribute $2 million of his own money to relief efforts in China and his foundation will help build earthquake-resistant schools in the country.

"This earthquake is the worst in history," Yao said. "Everybody knows the rebuilding will take 10 years. I was worried that the program would come out too quick. If you don't have the right plan, the right idea, you have a really short program. We don't want that to happen. I had this idea a year ago and I had a lot of time to think about it. Until today, I thought it was a little early again. But believe me, we have a good plan and the idea didn't come out just in one day."

The Rockets center has already received some commitments to his foundation.

Rockets owner Leslie Alexander will contribute $100,000 to the relief effort through the team's charitable organization, The Clutch City Foundation. Cold Stone Creamery pledged a minimum donation of $100,000, which will be raised through an in-store promotion in China. Fellow NBA players Steve Nash, Baron Davis, Greg Oden, Raymond Felton, Andris Biedrins, Marko Jaric and Marcus Williams along with WNBA star Diana Taurasi have also donated to the foundation. 

Houston Mayor Bill White presented The Yao Ming Foundation with over $100,000 in donations from Houston companies and private contributors.

"Yao Ming is fully committed to helping the people of China recover from this tragedy," Alexander said.  "I am pleased to assist him with his goal of rebuilding the schools that were destroyed and I commend him on his quick response to this terrible event."

Yao has appeared in several public service announcements during the NBA playoffs in hopes of securing funds for China's recovery. He pledged his condolences and financial support to the country within days of the tragedy.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said Yao is passionate about his cause.

"I was shocked how deeply affected Yao Ming was by this," Morey said. "You could tell it was something that impacted him more than almost anything I've seen impact him. At that time, we asked what we could do and we organized his work with the NBA."

Yao plans to return to China in late June to begin preparing for the Beijing Olympics. He wants to visit the area most affected by the quake once the Games are completed.

The center hopes that the Olympics will assist the country's recovery process.

"Usually, the Olympics means bringing different countries and cultures together in that three weeks," Yao said. "A lot of people make friends. This year, this has added something special, which is like a tragedy we could've had anywhere, like the tsunami in south Asia. The Olympics is a big organizing job. Right now, we need to share a lot of the money, a lot of the people and energy."

Yao had been thinking about creating a foundation since hosting a charity basketball game with Nash last summer. Though he wasn't prepared to create one this summer, his efforts were increased when China was affected by the earthquake.

"The earthquake tragedy was the worst in history," he said. "For this reason, I am working to give back funds."