SHENYANG: Kind-hearted students from Shenyang University have raised more than 80,000 yuan ($10,500) over the past week to help a schoolmate who is suffering from leukemia.

Twenty-one-year-old Zhang Lin is a sophomore at the university's Information Engineering Institution. Two weeks ago, she was diagnosed with leukemia and was immediately sent to a hospital in Dalian.

Doctors at the hospital said Zhang needed to be treated immediately, but warned that the fees could be as high as 200,000 yuan. The girl's father is the family's sole breadwinner and he earns just 1,200 yuan a month.

The plight of Zhang and her family saddened her fellow students and soon the whole campus was spurred into action.

Kong Fanxin, president of the institution's student union, said students from every faculty of the university had joined in the fundraising effort.

"We set up a website telling Zhang's story and promoted it all over the university so that more people would know about her and hopefully help," Kong, who is also a classmate of Zhang, said.

He said his 34 classmates donated 7,100 yuan for Zhang in a single day and more than 5,000 people had so far visited Zhang's site.

Shi Chunhe, a lecturer at the university, said: "I can't believe how many students have got involved in the campaign."

Shi said he previously thought that students born after the 1980s were generally selfish and lacking social responsibility.

"But they have changed my perception with their kindheartedness and enthusiasm," he said.

As well as the students' donations, the university's lecturers have contributed 12,000 yuan to the Zhang fund.

Shi said that Zhang's personal charm had played a big role in attracting so many donations in just one week.

Zhang said from hospital: "I will never give up hope as long as I have my schoolmates' help and support.

"If I am given the chance to go back to school I promise to get involved in volunteer work. I know I might not be able to do very much, but I want to express my gratitude and help others in need," she said.

Shi said the campaign to raise funds for Zhang had now extended beyond the campus and was attracting the support of the local community.

(China Daily 05/30/2007 page5)