From an early age, Matt Dalio has walked a path in life that is a little different from the average person. While most teenagers are obsessed with videogames, cars, social media, or parties, Matt spent most of his time trying to help orphans on the other side of the world. It started when he was a young boy and he spent a year living abroad in China. He attended school there with the local children and was the only non-Chinese born student in the school. At first he was an outcast but the children soon befriended him and they all became friends. From this experience, he would grow up and never forget the compassion that his schoolmates showed him when he was the outsider.

Years later, while Matt Dalio was thinking of things he could do for his Eagle Scout project, he began to research how he could help Chinese children. He soon found out about the large number of orphans there. Because of the one child limit imposed on all Chinese families by the government,  if a child is born with an abnormality or birth defect, it is common for the parents to simply abandon the child. Although many of these birth defects could be solved with a simple outpatient surgery. So many orphans in China have cases of a cleft lip, or clubbed foot.

Matt Dalio realized that if he was able to raise money, he could possibly afford to pay for some of these surgeries for these children, which in turn would give them a better chance at being adopted and having a better life. This is exactly what he did.  Within 4 years his initial project raised over $1 million, and grew to a multi-purpose organization and provided everything from pediatric surgeries to financial aid for adopting families.

The China Care Foundation is now over a decade old and has raised millions of dollars helping hundreds of children. Matt Dalio’s initial vision became a reality and in the process, has changed the lives of many children and families around the world.