Known as the so-called "single dad" of 20-thousand children, Chung To has been helping orphans with HIV and AIDS for years now. He is the founder of the Chi Heng Foundation, an organization aimed at supporting these kids. He believes giving practical help to families affected by the disease is more important than simply writing checks for the cause. With this in mind, he established a bakery, called Shanghai Young Bakers, to help such children stand on their own feet. CGTN's Li Jianhua visited the bakery and filed this report.

Meticulously making croissants in a French bakery in Shanghai, this 20-year-old is considered lucky. His life took a U-turn some ten years ago when he was sponsored by the Chi Heng Foundation - a charity helping children whose parents have passed away of AIDS.

ANONYMOUS AIDS ORPHAN "I was wondering why someone would dare work in this sensitive cause back then. Every time I went to collect my scholarship stipend, he would pet my shoulder and encourage me to study harder. I thought I was so lucky when I got to take a photo with him."

And he is only one of the 20-thousand under sponsorship behind all this is Chung To - known as the so-called "father of 20-thousand kids".

CHUNG TO FOUNDER, CHI HENG FOUNDATION "Twenty-some years ago, I was working in New York on Wall Street for an investment bank. I had a pretty comfortable life and I bought a penthouse apartment in Manhattan, leading quite a stable and predictable life. According to my plan, my life is unlikely to cross paths with some AIDS orphans in the fairly remote villages of China."

But life works in mysterious ways, he did indeed cross paths with some such orphans, witnessing their ordeal in their daily lives in central China's Henan Province.

CHUNG TO FOUNDER, CHI HENG FOUNDATION "HIV/AIDS was a lot of social stigmas, so when we went out to do fundraising, a lot of people were saying, if your children were orphaned by tsunami or earthquake, we would have no problem giving you money. But because they are HIV-related, they are more conservative."

To realized, he needed to help the kids stand on their own feet - and the key is education.

CHUNG TO FOUNDER, CHI HENG FOUNDATION "They could change their destiny by receiving education, but education doesn't mean only university education. If they could learn a skill set, it would also be beneficial to their development. So we started a school of French bakery to teach them how to become bakers and pastry chefs."

However, there was a harder task at hand, something not visible from the outset--it was helping the children deal with deep-rooted trauma.

CHUNG TO FOUNDER, CHI HENG FOUNDATION "A lot of children have a disturbing psycho-social stage, mainly because of the discrimination and social stigma they receive. Some are discriminated against by the neighbors, by their schoolmates. I think we have a long way to go in healing these children. And one of the things we do is to use art therapy, to be part of the healing process because a lot of the kids are not able to verbally express their pain, but through artwork, they are able to have some healing impact."

In the hope of ridding people of the stereotypes against HIV and AIDS, to holds up to 50 talks every year at various forums, and he's also carried out something that's deemed slightly controversial-- matchmaking for those with the disease. 52 couples have found each other thanks to his matchmaking efforts --of which 32 have had children.

CHUNG TO FOUNDER, CHI HENG FOUNDATION "I think people with HIV should have the right to form a family and should have the right to have their own children. It is a controversial issue, but the fact that they can get married and also produce children without HIV is a very good testimony."

While he's never tired in his matchmaking efforts, Chung himself is not married. But he says, it's a blessing in disguise.

CHUNG TO FOUNDER, CHI HENG FOUNDATION "With 20,000 children, I don't need my own now." Li Jianhua, CGTN, Shanghai.