ChineseToday | Volunteer leader dedicates decade to helping sanitation workers

YUNCHENG, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Ten years ago, Zhang Changqin, head of the volunteer association in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, saw a sanitation worker eating a hard and cold bun with nothing but cold water on a chilly winter morning. The scene struck him deeply. At that moment, he decided to start a public welfare project -- providing free breakfasts for street cleaners. He started the project in November 2016 and has been sharing the reason why he started it and what it meant with both sanitation workers and local residents. Gradually, he got support from the society. More and more individuals, enterprises and social organizations began donating food and supplies. Over the past ten years, the volunteer association has sent out over 270,000 free breakfasts in total. The association, which once had only a handful of members, now has nearly 2,000 registered volunteers and has inspired thousands more citizens to join in. Beyond the breakfast program, the association has also launched other initiatives for children in difficult circumstances and for the elderly. "We will keep going," says Zhang Changqin. "We believe that volunteer service can be a powerful force in driving social progress."