NANJING - A group of college students from Yangzhou University have attracted nationalattention by going door-to-door, filling big sacks with recyclable bottles and old newspapersand using the money to help a poor Tibetan orphan.
The ten sophomores from the university's College of Bioscience and Biotechnology in eastChina's Jiangsu province were amicably nicknamed "Sack Brothers" by netizens after their storyspread on the Internet.
On weekends, Li Sheng and his classmates go door-to-door to gather plastic bottles, usedbooks and newspapers from the university's dormitories.
"Hi, are there any empty bottles? We are picking them to help a boy in Tibet. Thank you."
The money they make gets sent to Tsering Gyatan, a student who lives with his 68-year-oldgrandmother in Lhasa, capital of southwest Tibet Autonomous Region. Every month, they liveon just 500 yuan (78.45 U.S. dollars) that the grandmother earns from part-time jobs.
Li Sheng has always wanted to help poor Tibetan children, because he knows that some cash-strapped kids might have to drop out of school. When he learned that Tsering Gyatan was oneof these kids, Li and his classmates, who are mostly from rural areas, decided to find a way tohelp.
Compared with donations and charity sales, Li believes recycling the waste is better, "as it notonly provides a long-term financial supply, but also fulfills our social responsibility of protectingthe environment," Li said.
However, the beginning was difficult. Zhuang Guochang said he felt embarrassed at first, butnow carrying big sacks around campus does not bother him at all.
"I'm not embarrassed, because we earn money on our own," said Zhuang.
They made 600 yuan within the first 15 days after they started in early September, and havesent 500 yuan to Tsering Gyatan.
"We plan to send Tsering Gyatan 200 yuan every month from now on," said Li.
Their early success gave these students more confidence, and they are planning to collectwaste in neighboring communities as well.
"I believe that we can gather more money to help more Tibetan children in the future," Li said.
The "Sack Brothers" encouraged other students to follow suit. Eleven female students from Li'sclass decided to communicate with the little boy frequently through letters or by phone to helphim with his studies and encourage him to keep going.
Wang Yinyin, the head of the class youth league, called Tsering Gyatan's grandmother aheadof the National Day, which falls on October 1.
"She told me that Tsering Gyatan is very fond of basketball right now and plays basketball withfriends as soon as he finishes his homework," said Wang. "So we will send a new basketball tohim next month."
Other students began to gather bottles and books that would have otherwise been thrownaway.
"Moved by the 'Sack Brothers,' I began keeping all my beverage bottles for them," said PanZhonghua, a sophomore majoring in biological engineering. "I admire their big hearts."
The "Sack Brothers" will give paper cranes as souvenirs to students who pitch in, like Pan.
"The paper crane is our way of saying 'thank you,'" said Wang Yinyin.
