A young man in Xinxiang, central China’s Henan province, offered more than 120,000 pieces of free breakfast to local sanitation workers in the past 4 years. Liu Fupeng has also established a volunteer group consisting of several hundred people. The free breakfast includes two steamed stuffed buns, a bowl of porridge, an egg and a bottle of water.

According to a volunteer, Huang Pei, the group consists of people from various walks of life, including primary school pupils and retired senior citizens. Huang Pei said she considered it a duty to join the team and serve society.

Liu’s philanthropic idea originated from a public service activity he organized in 2013 at which he and the sponsors sent gifts to a group of sanitation workers. He was touched by the reaction of one of the sanitation workers who shed tears while receiving the gifts. In response, Liu decided to do more for them by offering free breakfast. The volunteer group was also established the same year.

Liu said he hopes that the activity can improve people’s respect and care of sanitation workers by making them feel the warmth and kindness of society. Though it is not difficult to operate the programme, Liu said the start-up funding was quite a challenge for him and the volunteers. Thanks to a sponsor who supported the idea, Liu was able to cover the monthly cost of about 7,200 RMB.

However, the sudden end of sponsorship placed Liu and his team in a very awkward situation. At one point, he even considered putting an end to the free breakfast programme. Fortunately, the public funds they raised in July 2014 saved the programme from collapse. He and his team raise a daily amount of 240 RMB, which has kept the gesture going.

The philanthropic gesture has been running for more than 1,400 days, and the breakfast so far offered is worth more than 600,000 RMB. Under Liu’s initiative, a special benevolence fund has been established in Henan province to improve care for sanitation workers.