An employee training session at the Qiangbang Angel Baseball Base in Xianghe, Hebei province, set off a wave of employee-led philanthropy across ByteDance, with 820 auction lots raising over 86,000 yuan ($12,000 USD) for children’s charities, according to a report by yeeyi.com.
ByteDance Employees Bid on Unusual Charity Lots in Annual Drive
Yumei, an employee at ByteDance, found herself on a baseball diamond in Hebei province during a weekend in September holding a bat that nearly flew out of her hands after two awkward swings. Guiding her through pitching and hitting drills was an 18-year-old coach with sun-darkened skin, assisted by a ten-year-old ball boy who collected equipment and watched her form. Yumei had purchased this two-hour training session for 400 yuan at an internal charity auction organized by JumpSugar, ByteDance’s employee welfare and philanthropy organization, which marked its fourth year running during the national September 5 Charity Day campaign.
AI Engineers Bring Baseball to Underprivileged Youth
The baseball training package was proposed by Junfeng, an artificial intelligence engineer at the company and the founder of the JumpSugar Zhi Zhi club. Junfeng discovered the Qiangbang Angel Baseball Project online—a charitable organization established in 2015 by former Chinese national baseball team captain Sun岭峰 (Sun Ling峰) to shelter and train impoverished children, orphans, and left-behind youth. After locating the base in Xianghe following multiple relocations, Junfeng offered to teach computer science to children who had never touched a computer. Teaching basic document creation and typing took several sessions, prompting the volunteers to use generative AI to write baseball team anthems, generate cartoon avatars, and compile personal athletic histories for the students. Junfeng then transformed the children’s expertise into an auction lot so colleagues could experience the youngsters’ talents firsthand.
Handmade Jewelry Secures State Employment Status for Disabled Youth
Another prominent auction lot featured a pair of traditional simulated kingfisher feather orchid earrings crafted by intellectually disabled young adults in Shuozhou, Shanxi province. Bidden 53 times by 518 interested colleagues, the earrings sold for 328 yuan. Hammer, the founder of the JumpSugar Tangbaobei club, began supporting the local community three years ago by raising funds and later selling handicrafts online. Working alongside JumpSugar staff, the club secured official qualification for sheltered employment from the Shanxi Provincial Disabled Persons’ Federation, allowing the artisans to receive legal, market-rate wages rather than relying on charity. Seven artisans ranging in age from 18 to 35 spent days selecting, trimming, and gluing feathers to intricate metal frames, an endeavor that required intense physical patience for participants with severe hand dexterity challenges.
Desert Reforestation Projects Draw Top Bids in Corporate Auction
A corporate environmental club turned an individual desert excursion into the auction’s highest-selling item, known internally as the bidding king. Xiaoyan, a member of the JumpSugar Oasis Environmental club, traveled independently to Minqin county in Gansu province—situated between the Tengger and Badain Jaran deserts—after learning about local sand-control efforts through a television program. Encouraged by colleagues, she established an internal club that organized a spring tree-planting trip where volunteers planted drought-resistant Haloxylon ammodendron (suosuo) trees against blowing sand. For the charity auction, the club offered the rights to plant and visit 30-tree plots starting at 300 yuan. Three separate forestry lots ultimately sold for 5,800 yuan, 3,000 yuan, and 1,210 yuan, totaling 10,010 yuan. The highest bidder purchased the plot as a birthday gift for his spouse, ensuring the names of the recipients will be displayed on commemorative markers in the desert when the trees are planted in late October and early November.
Auction Results and Employee Clubs Expand Public Reach
The annual JumpSugar charity auction drew 40,334 individual bids and collected over 860,000 yuan to fund ongoing youth welfare initiatives. Beyond the baseball lessons, handmade jewelry, and desert forestry plots, 820 items included study notes from a 94-year-old researcher donated by the Time Partners club, and 3D-printed teaching aids supplied by the Maker Guild. ByteDance employees have established 135 distinct internal philanthropic clubs to support various social sectors, linking volunteer enthusiasm with corporate logistical support.
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