Dear China.org.cn,

I am an American who has been living in China for the past seven years. I speak English, Chinese and Spanish. My schedule is very flexible and I want to devote my time to volunteering to support the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I also have some friends who want to join me. How can we find out more information about volunteering for the Olympics? Who should we contact? Is there a form we should fill out?

Thanks.
Sincerely,
Brandon Zatt

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Dear Brandon Zatt,

Thanks for your enthusiasm for Beijing's 2008 Olympics.

The "Beijing Olympic Volunteers Program" was officially launched on June 5 by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

According to officials from the Beijing Olympic Volunteers Coordination Group Office, 100,000 volunteers will be needed before and during the Games, 70,000 for the summer games and 30,000 for the Paralympics.

Four volunteer projects will be included in the program - the "Towards Olympics" Voluntary Service Project, the Olympic Games Volunteer Project, the Paralympic Games Volunteer Project and the BOCOG Pre-Games Volunteer Project.

Volunteers for the Olympic Games Volunteer Project will mainly involve students from Beijing's universities, but also other Beijing citizens and those from all over the mainland, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and people from overseas.

Qualified volunteers should have some foreign language skills and be aged 18 before April 2008.

Since the recruitment will take place from August 2006, the details of the application procedure are still under discussion. Once the details come out, we will publish them in our special Olympic feature: Getting Ready for the Games, so please keep a close watch.

Thanks for your letter!

Best regards!

The editors

(China.org.cn June 9, 2005)