Alarm call for charity cash boxes

By Zou Qi  |   2008-6-7  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

DONATION boxes in hospitals and Metro stations are to be fitted with alarms, the Shanghai Charity Foundation said yesterday.

The move follows an attempted theft at Changhai Hospital on Wednesday.

Doctors said it was the first time anyone had tried to steal the donation box set up by the Shanghai Charity Foundation.

Doctors at the reception desk near the box said they had seen a man, who was about 1.8 meters tall, show great interest in the box following the May 12 earthquake.

A man fitting this description was seen by patients cutting the glass of the donation box on Wednesday and trying to steal the charity money.

The patients shouted, startling the suspect, who fled the scene, according to the Shanghai Charity Foundation.

The case is being investigated by police in Yangpu District.

The attempted theft led the Shanghai Charity Foundation to decide to replace the glass in the donation boxes with iron straps, and install alarms in every box.

The installations will be complete by the end of next week.

"The glass on the donation boxes in hospitals has been aging, and it is easy to break," said Yuan Zhengrong, an official with the donation department of the Shanghai Charity Foundation.

"Donation boxes set up by us in Metro stations have been replaced with the new type which have alarms," Yuan said, adding that multi-media functions would also be added to the boxes.

The Shanghai Charity Foundation also issued notices to all donation points to urge them to monitor the boxes more closely.

The foundation began to set up permanent donation boxes in hotels, hospitals and several entertainment venues in 1997.

There are several thousand such boxes across the city.

In a similar case, a donation box at Ouyang Neighborhood Clinic Center in Hongkou District was stolen last month.