BEIJING - On a sunny Saturday afternoon in April, the basketball arena at Minzu Univerisity of China was filled with excitement. Dozens of female students swarmed a sales counter, noisily selecting the discounted cosmetic products of L'Oreal, Maybelline, Garnier and Vichy - four brands of the L'Oreal Paris Group, one of the biggest cosmetics companies in the world.

It was unlike other sales promotion activities in that most buyers and sales staff were college students. Additionally, all sales revenues were donated for the educational benefit of poor students in western China.

The 2010 L'Oreal China on-Campus Charity Sales was inaugurated by L'Oreal Paris and the China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) on April 10. Minzu University of China was chosen as the venue for the first activity of this sort this year because it is the biggest with students from different nationalities.

"We not only provide poor students with material support but also advise them on mental health issues, helping them to achieve their dream of finishing their studies smoothly," said Lan Zhenzhen, vice-president of L'Oreal China, at a news conference about the 2010 L'Oreal campus sales.

This year, L'Oreal plans to raise 1 million yuan for its L'Oreal Education Assistance of the Poor program and 200,000 yuan for its L'Oreal Fund for the Mental Health & Education of the Poor through the activity. It aims to help more than 330 college students from the western China who are excellent at their studies but need financial support to complete them. 
                                                                                                 Source: China Daily