An array of activities featuring volunteer services and volunteers were organized throughout Shenzhen yesterday to mark national Volunteers’ Day, also known as Lei Feng Memorial Day.
Official records show that by Dec. 5, 2016, there were 1.3 million real-name registered volunteers in Shenzhen. The figure accounted for nearly 11 percent of the total permanent resident population, which reached 11.38 million in 2015.
Statistics collected by local authority also show that the number of organizations providing volunteer services amounts to 11,000 with over 2,200 social organizations, making up 20 percent of the total number of social organizations in the city.
The activities included a summit on volunteering culture, a self-directed stage play by volunteers about protecting the marine environment and speeches delivered to share stories and philosophies about volunteering in Shenzhen.
The purpose of holding the activities was to advocate the spirit of helping others voluntarily, according to the Communist Youth League Shenzhen Committee.
Every year, March 5 is a day to commemorate Lei Feng, a soldier with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the 1960s. He earned a decades-long reputation for reaching out to others and eventually sacrificed his life at the young age of 22 in 1962.
Lei Feng Memorial Day was first marked in 1963 to pay tribute to Lei and encourage people to learn from his service to society.
At the summit that focused on volunteering culture yesterday morning, representatives from many volunteering organizations made speeches about passing on the city’s good tradition of doing volunteer jobs.
Three key functions of volunteers and volunteering jobs were summarized and further emphasized at the summit, namely providing social services in the fields of tourism and environmental protection, taking care of seniors and the disabled, participating in the management of society including helping in the fight against drugs and resolving social conflicts and spreading positive energy throughout Shenzhen.