What is Tzu Ching?
UMD Tzu Ching (UMDTC) is a collegiate organization dedicated to serving our local community with sincere care, kindness, and compassion. Through various service activities both on campus at UMD and in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas, we hope to foster a community of gratitude, respect, and love, and inspire others to lead their lives with greater compassion and humility.
Achieving wellbeing is the essence of human existence, but a variety of obstacles can hinder the goal and cause misery.
Our parent organization, Tzu Chi, is an international humanitarian organization whose mission is to relieve the suffering of those in need, and create a better world for all.
Tzu Chi provides food, clothing, shelter, direct financial assistance, and more. Transforming feelings of helplessness and despair into hope and empowerment, and bringing out the good in people through the happiness they discover when helping others is also our goal.
Providing medical care to those who lack the means to pay was Tzu Chi’s priority from the start. Today, we have a comprehensive network of hospitals, mobile units, doctors, medical professionals and volunteers offering free healthcare. We value the wellbeings of patients, families, and medical teams equally.
Tzu Chi has schools, colleges, and universities worldwide. The objective is to deliver superior education, and nurture virtue, kindness, compassion, and joy in selfless giving. With deep faith in human nature, we advance universal respect towards all people, regardless of race, culture, language or religion.
Tzu Chi is dedicated to fostering humanistic culture through civil responsibility and personal character. Founded on Buddhist philosophy, we advocate the view that as individuals, we should aspire to be moral, self-aware, and willing to act for the benefit of others. We pacify negative emotions, develop love and compassion, and attain wisdom.
We are accredited by the United Nations and mobilize to provide international disaster relief in a big way. Our volunteers arrive with immediate emergency necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and medical supplies. We also offer direct financial aid to those in need. And, we’re on the ground for the long haul, rebuilding, setting up schools and water supply, offering free clinics, and more.
What better way is there to ease human suffering, than saving a life? Donating bone marrow can do that, with no harm to you. Tzu Chi facilitates the process of finding a genetic match for those who require marrow, by managing a Bone Marrow Donor Registry. We also have an umbilical cord blood repository and support ongoing stem cell research and gene therapy.
We believe that we can protect the environment through the choices we make and our behavior as individuals. We actively promote waste reduction and recycling. We advocate a healthy diet consisting of less meat and more fruits and vegetables. Living a simpler lifestyle and reducing our carbon footprint is crucial towards living in harmony with Mother Earth.
Putting compassion into action is at the heart of Tzu Chi’s mission. We have a global community of millions of volunteers selflessly sharing their time, applying their energy, and offering their individual capacity for the benefit of others. With their sincerity and love, volunteers make all our charity, medical, educational, international relief, and environmental protection programs possible.
Meet our current UMDTC e-board members!
Learn about some of the different service events we do!
The events below are ongoing during COVID19:
Make a meaningful connection with the elderly at Sunrise Montgomery Village Nursing home through emails! This event is a great way to socialize and make a new friend, while staying virtual.
We appreciate your patience as we work hard to start this service event. [TBD]
Join us in-person to distribute food to families in need in DC. Masks are mandatory.
Have fun with us through our virtual GBMs and socials to meet new friends! You can keep up with our events by checking our Calendar or Facebook, and subscribing to our mailing list.
The events below have been cancelled due to COVID19:
We head to a couple homeless shelters and serve pastries, tea, coffee and more to the homeless there. This is a great experience that will broaden your perspective on the many blessings you may take for granted.
The Children’s Inn provides a home for those children seeking care at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We have the opportunity to serve dinners currently staying at the Inn to help provide further care, support, and comfort.
We visit nursing homes to entertain and spend time with the eldery. Join us in a fun morning filled with hand exercises, musical performances, and bingo!
Learn a little more about our organzation!
Sign up to volunteer at service events!