An elderly couple in their 90s from Yancheng city, Jiangsu province, has been hailed as good Samaritans in the March list produced by the Office for Guiding Ethic and Cultural Progress under the CPC Central Committee for their lifelong donation to needy students and establishment of a one- million-yuan foundation.
It was the second time for Yang Weiling to meet with Bao Bin and his wife Lu Yijun since the first meeting over 20 years ago.
25 years ago, Yang was a fifth grader at a rural primary school in Funing County. She was about to drop out of school when the Baos gave her a sum of money which was meant to be her tuition.
The Baos later moved from Yancheng to Xuzhou. Yang was therefore unable to continue to contact the Baos until recently.
A letter sent by the Baos to Yang, which has been kept intact, drew them closer instantly.
Yang Weiling：I was busy doing farm work in the fields and I would be a six grader in the new semester,I promised in the letter that I would follow their instructions and study hard to repay their care with good academic performances.
Bao Bin："It was sometime in the 1990s and I earned merely over 100 yuan a month,My wife earned less than 100 yuan a month.I did not remember how much money ,I gave her but I do remember her visiting my home with a chicken she raised.Before she left,I gave her some money and the 50-yuan note was newly issued,I told her it was a 50-yuan note rather than a five-yuan,I told her not to get mistaken."
Bao Bin has kept a small notebook in which were inscribed the names of more than ten students that he and his wife have helped to go through the difficulties.
In the past decades, the elderly couple has donated to needy students to ensure that they could continue with their school education.
In the 1990s, the Baos retired from Yancheng Commerce School which is now part of Yancheng Teacher’s College. The couple decided to do something meaningful and right around 1996 they started to send out their donations to several needy students that included Yang Weiling.
In the ensuing 2 decades, they donated more than 100, 000 yuan to help with ten needy students.
Bao Bin :"My wife and I used to go through difficulties in the school days and we were both teachers.We had noticed the hardships of the needy students in our classes.We were motivated to make the donations to help with the needy students."
Lu Yijun:"Some students had excellent grades but dropped out of school simply because they were from impoverished families.We thought it was a pity for the family and the society as well.All we knew is that we will try out best to help as many students as possible."
The Baos have been generous to the needy students but are thrifty in their daily life. Their furniture and home appliances were bought more than ten years ago and the only big appliance is the color TV set in the living room. They have got used to wearing patched clothes. Frugality is what the family has advocated, Lu said. Their two sons earn their own living in other cities, which is just perfect for them, Lu said.
Lu Yijun :"We would never dump the leftovers and if we failed to eat up the food,we would not cook another meal.The collar of shirts is patched and the sleeves are worn out,I simply cut off the worn-out part so that he can continue to wear the shirt."
In May 2018, the couple made up their minds to set aside their lifelong savings of 1 million yuan for the launch of a foundation at the teacher’s college they used to work with.
Dai Binrong, CPC secretary of Yancheng Teacher’s College :"The couple proposed that the money is meant to aid the needy students with good academic performances and moral standards.The first batch of the recipients was selected out of 6087 needy students at the college."
20 students have been given an annual aid of 5000 yuan since the foundation was launched a year ago. The money will ensure their university education throughout the four years.
The students who have received the donation have made up their minds to be good teachers like the Baos.
Chai Shiyu, a student :"I have a dream of going to teach in west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region so as to pass down the altruism of the grandpa and the grandma."
Xie Mingyang, another student:"Teacher is a very sacred profession,I must repay the society when I have the ability,I want to be a teacher like the grandpa and the grandma to be a great teacher,a teacher who is willing to give."
The Baos have been hailed as good Samaritans in Jiangsu in November last year and ranked the national list of good Samaritans in April this year.
Lu Yijun:"What we have done is of limited efforts but what we need to do is to call for more help from the society."
