After the training program was up and running, Dr. Clarke visited the children's home. He was very impressed with the things that the children were learning.

"This is what is needed in all the orphanages in China," Clarke told Mills at dinner that night. "Would you consider coming to China's Children Fund, working with us, and organizing this in all our homes?"

The meeting of Clarke and Mills in Canton in 1946 was both the culmination of CCF's beginnings and the opening of a new future. There came together the two individuals who have done more than anyone else to create and sustain CCF as a vibrant force for the welfare of children throughout the world. Although others would come along to make significan contributions, it was Clarke who conceived the unique engine and got it going, who sold the idea to thousands upon thousands of Americans, and who assured a steady stream of both sponsors and sponsorship funds. And it was Mills who would make use of his experience in war-ravaged China to ensure that CCF did much more than merely collect together homeless and hapless children. It was his vision and commitment that CCF's work was only beginning when each sponsored child was house, clothed, and fed. There was a vital human being ready to be nurtured in learning, skills, and values. If Clarke had a dream to save the suffering children of the world, Mills had a plan to make them whole beings.

The stage was already being set for CCF not only to expand constantly outward, but also to make a significant contribution to the whole lives of thousands of children.