BMW owners driven to do good

For Wei Changqing, the general manager of a Xi'an-based environmental protection engineering company, charity is more like a lifestyle than a job.

As a BMW owner, Wei took part in his first volunteer activity organized by the BMW Warm Heart Fund in 2010. The trip to Pingwu county, Sichuan province, left him with memories he will never forget.

"I thought it would be something like a commercial campaign, but later I found that it was actually doing something meaningful," he recalled. "The Warm Heart Fund emphasizes not only money but more importantly the interaction of minds."

He said the activities encourage volunteers to discover their strengths, and he learned that everyone has a role to play.

In one activity in Yushu, Qinghai province, he met a junior middle school girl called Yingdong who lost her parents in the 2010 earthquake. He gave her a present - a cassette player-- and since then, they have become close friends.

They talk on the phone whenever it is convenient, encouraging each other and sharing in each other's happiness and sorrow.

"We were trying to give the children material aid, but we later realized that they need more in terms of emotional support," he said.

In turn, the activities have helped him maintain a positive and optimistic attitude.

"The children in remote regions are eager to know what's happening in the outside world," he said. "Although they are living a much harder life than their counterparts in the cities, they never complain about the unfair society and are struggling very hard to change the situation."

Many of Wei's friends also have warm hearts and "wanted to offer help, but didn't know how".

He founded a BMW car-owners club in his hometown of Xi'an in 2012, borrowing the format of the Warm Heart Fund. The club supports local children and college students who need help.

The members of the club have served not only as participants in charity programs but also as "spreaders of positive energy, advocating a healthy and optimistic life attitude".

"Everyone has responsibility for the team and those whom he helps," he said. He expects to find an approach to "cultivating moral character and balance the mind in the impetuous society" through the activities.

"Doing exercise will give you a healthy body and doing charity will give you a healthy mind," he said.