Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

REPRESENTATIVES from five volunteer teams were invited to share their experiences at an event to mark the 61st Lei Feng Day and the 19th Shenzhen Volunteer Day, which was held at the Xinxing Building in Futian District yesterday.

Lei Feng Day is an annual event aimed at celebrating the life and spirit of a young soldier who devoted his spare time and money to helping the needy. To recognize those who embody Lei Feng’s spirit in Shenzhen, the city designated the day a volunteer day in 2006.

The event, organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, drew over 400 volunteers.

“Volunteers have no boundaries,” Shi Xin, head of the Shenzhen Rescue Volunteers Federation, said during his speech. In February 2023, when a devastating earthquake hit Türkiye’s southern province of Hatay, the Shenzhen Rescue Volunteers Federation sent 23 members to assist with rescue efforts. Over 11 days, the team made every effort to find and save buried and missing people, rescuing three survivors and recovering the bodies of 10 victims.

“We not only do good deeds, but also do as well as we can,” Shi added. “Rescue is all about life, and this is the belief of our team.”

Shi shared that the Shenzhen Rescue Volunteers Federation was established in July 2008 after the devastating magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck the Wenchuan area in northwestern Sichuan Province. Since then, the team has carried out a remarkable 352 domestic and international rescue and disaster recovery missions.

In addition to Shi’s account, volunteers from other teams shared their stories during the event. Deng Di, from Tencent’s volunteer team, talked about providing support through technological solutions, while Li Huixin, a psychologist, shared her experience in forming a team focused on providing psychological services.

Liu Yue from Shenzhen University (SZU) recounted how SZU students have contributed to rural revitalization through volunteer teaching and charity bazaars. Yang Mingchuan from a local volunteer federation discussed his team’s efforts in assisting with medical emergencies, particularly in training citizens how to use AEDs (automated external defibrillators).

At present, the number of registered volunteers in Shenzhen has exceeded 3.81 million, according to data released by the city’s Communist Youth League.