Dalian volunteer goes all out to give back to community

Wang Guansheng loves sharing the public welfare and charity events he participates in on his WeChat moments, as he never gets tired of helping others.

During the run-up to Learn From Lei Feng Day on March 5, he participated in at least three activities every day, such as offering daily necessities to poor families, organizing donations for those with illnesses and teaching calligraphy to the children of migrant workers.

"People often ask me why I do public welfare in such a high-profile way. Quite simply, I just want to influence more people to do good through my own experience," said Wang, a public-spirited entrepreneur in Dalian, Liaoning province.

The 35-year-old is a deputy to Dalian people's congress and deputy director of the city's young volunteers association.

"Since 2008, I've launched nearly 100 projects to provide voluntary services to other citizens," he said.

Wang still remembers clearly the day in 1999, when some people went to his primary school at Wangdian village in Wafangdian, Dalian, to give grants to students from poor families.

"When I received 200 yuan ($29), I was so moved that I started to cry," he recalled. The headmaster told him they were volunteers with the Project Hope education charity and they showed the selfless spirit of Lei Feng.

"At that time, I told myself that I would like to learn from Lei Feng and help others when I grow up," he said.

After graduating from middle school, Wang went to work in downtown Dalian.

He went through some hard times and started his own business. Then he took practical actions to pursue his childhood dream.

The first time he formally participated in public welfare activities was in 2008, when he raised thousands of yuan for the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan.

On March 5, 2011, Wang founded the Dalian Xiaoshan Da'ai Public Service Center (the name means "little good, big love"). It now boasts 5,100 registered volunteers who have provided 1.3 million hours of volunteer service.

In September 2021, under the guidance and support of Dalian's civil affairs department, the center was officially registered as a charity organization.

Wang and his supporters were actively engaged in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic.

He also joined Guo Mingyi, a national role model well-known by the public for his deeds in learning from hero soldier Lei Feng, to help students from poor families in Nagchu, Tibet autonomous region.

Wang said that carrying forward the Lei Feng spirit is deeply in his blood.

"If everyone can start from the little things around, give play to their advantages to serve others, our society will be more and more beautiful," he said.

At the Xianglujiao business park in Xigang district, where his office is located, Wang launched a volunteer service team to patrol the park three times per day, picking up garbage and helping solve small problems.

"Some volunteers told me that they never thought it was so simple to get involved in public welfare activities. Some enterprises in the park offered to give prizes to the volunteers and encourage more people to participate," said Wang.

He feels himself being like a platform to gather more enthusiastic citizens, enterprises and institutions to do public welfare together.

When he was helping students in rural areas, he found some farmers suffered from fire caused by old circuits, so he contacted six companies to provide startup funds, free construction, insurance, and so on, to help transform the old circuits for those in need.

When he noticed the inconvenience for the elderly in the hospitals, he cooperated with a local hospital to set up a voluntary service workstation, providing one-to-one guidance for the elderly.

"Now I spend a lot of time doing public welfare. Fortunately, my wife and business partners in the five companies I invest in all support me," said Wang.

"Even so, I know that I need to take care of my family and work first. Only when we're strong, can we better help others."