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CHENGDU: Although it was overcast on Tuesday morning, some 5,000 students at the Development School of Chengdu No.7 High School were overjoyed to participate in a donation ceremony on the school's spacious playground.
Deng Tianda, 17, a senior high school student in Beijing, and Zhao Tianyue, his elder sister, each donated 33,300 yuan ($4,897) to a pair of twins, whose parents perished in the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008.
The twins, Gao Zhihao and Gao Zhijie, who are sixth graders in the school's primary school section, are from Dujiangyan, a city under the administration of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province. It is also the city nearest to Wenchuan, epicenter of the magnitude-8.0 earthquake which killed more than 90,000 people.
The money Deng and Zhao donated was gifts for the Chinese Lunar New Year from their parents as well as their pocket money.
The brother-sister duo pledged to support the two boys until they graduate from college.
Their parents also donated 1,000 yuan ($147) to each of more than 100 students at the school who hail from the quake zone and 100,000 yuan to the teaching staff of the school.
Speaking on behalf of his family, Deng said the move was to let children in the quake zone know people still care for them although the devastating earthquake took place nearly two years ago. He called on students from rich families to help their peers who are in need of help.