Charity begins at home

By Shen Xiquan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-05 09:24

On a recent chilly morning in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, six senior citizens with green aprons are busy distributing porridge at the Hongri (Red Sun) Pavilion. Some 130 people have queued up in front of five big barrels.

These are construction workers, garbage pickers, beggars, vagrants, disabled people, monks and residents from a nearby neighborhood.

Some elderly people who don't want to make breakfast for themselves also show up. But they have not come just for the free porridge, they also bring cash and other donations.

Soon after the shift begins at 8 am, a middle-aged man arrives with some money. A woman follows with three bags of rice. A corporation donates several tons of rice.

Ye Baochun, 80 (2nd from left) and Zhang Mingsheng, 72 (right), joined Zhu Yonglin, 82 (2nd from right) to get the project going in Aug 2006. [China Daily]

Zhu Yonglin, 82, one of the initiators of the porridge project, writes down each donor's name and the donated item with a brush and presents the donor with a receipt.

"We aim to provide some hygienic food for people living on little income, especially rubbish pickers and beggers," Zhu says.

Lying between Jiangbin Road and East Ring Road, Hongri Pavilion first caught public attention two years ago when Zhu and his friends began giving the poor and needy free food. Today, anyone who wants to drop by receives a warm welcome.

Zhu, a former food factory employee, launched the project in August 2006 with two friends - Zhang Mingsheng, 72, and Ye Baochun, 80. The project now involves 23 volunteers, the youngest of whom is over 60.

Every day, they prepare some 40 kg of rice with 18 big pressure cookers in a nearby kitchen. The cooking takes hours and the elderly volunteers ride two tricycles to carry the five barrels of porridge - with peanuts, other appetizers, sterilized tables and chairs, bowls and chopsticks - to the pavilion, a distance of about 500 m.

Zhu says he and other pensioners donated nearly 5,000 yuan ($700) to launch the project.

"I don't smoke or drink and I don't like fish and seldom eat meat," says Zhu, who lives alone, now that his wife has died. Though he has three sons and one daughter, the old man prefers living on his limited pension and helping others.

The project has become well known. Every day up to 600 come for the porridge, with 80 percent returning regularly, while new faces arrive every day.

Before the Spring Festival, residents in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, receive free New Year cakes at the Hongri Pavilion. [China Daily]

"Not counting the rice we spent around 10,000 yuan in 2007," Zhu says, adding that when they have extra money left over, they give it to welfare houses and schools for disabled students.

When pictures of the porridge spot were uploaded on the Internet, it became a heated topic.

One netizen remarked that it wasn't appropriate to set up a charity site, as government departments should manage public welfare. Some others said that such a long queue of people lining up on one of Wenzhou's busiest streets "would affect its appearance".

But most people warmly supported Zhu and the other elderly volunteers and they were chosen by netizens as among the "10 Persons who Moved Wenzhou".

A netizen with the name Ju Feng commented "love and warmth would provide people with reassurance".

Another netizen named Wu Lun Che said: "Many people have been laid off due to the financial crisis. During the Spring Festival, more porridge spots should be opened so people will not commit crimes to eat a meal."

"Youngsters should help these elderly people, at least over the weekends. The elderly need some rest," suggested another netizen.

Sun Chengkan, chief of Wenzhou Charity Association, has sent some rice donated by a Red Army veteran to the porridge spot. "It's indeed a brilliant initiative. If they need any other things, we are willing to do all we can," Sun says.

"I'm confident that it is in the public's interest to support this spot," says Ye Baochun, another initiator of the project, who has to take a 10-stop bus ride to the pavilion everyday.

After a busy morning, Ye and his friends prepare food for the next day. Meanwhile, the pavilion attracts locals with Wenzhou Guci performances, a centuries-old folk art. The place is a ray of sunshine for the elderly on a cold winter's day.