American Donor Found After 27 Years, Plans Visit to Forest His US$5,000 Grew in China's Desert

An American teacher who donated US$5,000 to support anti-desertification efforts in northern China nearly three decades ago has been identified after a nationwide search, and now hopes to visit the forest his contribution helped grow in the desert.

The man, identified as retired US teacher Ronald Sakolsky, sent the donation in 1999 to support tree-planting efforts led by Chinese environmental activist Yin Yuzhen in the deserts in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Over the years, the small donation grew into a sprawling forested area, becoming part of one of China’s best-known grassroots desert-control stories.

The renewed attention came after Yin launched a search for the American donor whose contribution had long been remembered by her and local residents.

In an interview with Yangtze Evening News, Sakolsky said he first came to China through an exchange program organized by the National Committee on United States-China Relations, serving as an exchange teacher in Luoyang, central China’s Henan Province, from 1999 to 2000. It was during that period that he learned about her efforts to fight desertification.

On May 17, 2026, Sakolsky spoke by phone with Bai Fan, vice principal of Luoyang No. 2 Foreign Language School in Henan Province and his former colleague during the exchange program. During the emotional call, Sakolsky was astonished and overjoyed to hear that all the saplings he had funded had grown into a thriving forest. "I can't wait," Sakolsky said when Bai invited him to see the forest in the desert in Inner Mongolia.

Yin, a National Model Worker celebrated for transforming over 70,000 acres of the Mu Us Desert into a lush oasis, tearfully recalled the impact of the American's aid.

"I have never seen so much money. It took me by surprise," Yin said in the video. "When Sakolsky visited me, I was planting saplings. He said it was impossible to turn the desert into a forest, but now the impossible has become possible," she said.

After seeing a recent photograph of Sakolsky, Yin smiled and said emotionally, “More than 20 years have passed. We’ve both grown old.”

Yin said she hopes Sakolsky can visit China in the future to see the forest in person. “Unity is strength,” she said, according to Yangtze Evening News.

Sakolsky worked as a middle school teacher in Pennsylvania for nearly 30 years before retirement, winning teaching awards and actively participating in international education programs.