Dr. Sun Yet-Sen and department ministers

in the seremony of NanJing YMCA

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) were founded in the year of 1912 and 1919 respectively. During Dr. Sun Yat-sen donated 3000 silver dollars to Nanjing YMCA as preliminary expenses.

The YMCA&YWCA of Nanjing are both international Christian social service organizations with the purpose of “serving the society and benefiting the people”, the former adopting the tenet “To serve, but not to be served” and the latter “You know the truth and the truth shall make you free”. The Nanjing YMCA&YWCA are to serve the youth and people of different ages, to aim at a well-rounded development of the individual’s personality, stressing the characteristic emphasis on the whole person in the unity of spirit, body and mind, usually manifested in the sign of the triangle so as to live a healthy life, thus creating a harmonious society.

The Nanjing YMCA&YWCA are now working together in the same office building located at NO.229, Zhongshan Road. We have organized different kinds of activities including cultural education, career training and other membership services and laymen’s mobilization. In order to serve the community, and women and children and other disadvantaged groups, we have now started a cultural training school, a career training center, a New Friends’ Home (for the youths and middle aged people to make new friends rendering somewhat like a kind of marriage-making service, an Old Friends’ Club, giving mental hygiene counseling lectures, a choir and a Volunteers’ Club. For years, YMCA activities have been warmly welcomed and greatly supported by the people from all walks of life.

Nanjing YMCA&YWCA have established in recent years friendly relationship with YMCAs and YWCAs in Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and other different countries and regions of the world to promote world peace and make a joint effort for the building of a new harmonious world on an equal basis.