WEI Jun is a legend in the country's charity circle. The Dishui Public Welfare Association he founded boasts more than 5,000 volunteers and has benefited about 50,000 people, and all of this only took him less than five years. No wonder the association was recently awarded as one of the country's best non-governmental organizations.

Wei describes himself as an extraordinary man who "always refuses to toe the corporate line" and "loves to experience different life." The 40-year-old has actually worked in 38 industries - he has been a soldier, construction worker, fruit vendor, music tutor, band manager and general manager of a travel agency, among other occupations.

But the job hopping suddenly stopped in 2006, when he was determined to devote the rest of his life to the cause of the public good.

"My 37th job, a general manager, was well-paid. Seemingly, I achieved the social standard of 'success'," Wei recalls. "However, I started to think 'That's it? That is all I need for life?

"And the answer was 'No'," he continues. "So I wondered 'Is there any venture that I can do and I won't regret in the future?' Well, then I'd already paired two children, and I thought I could do more."

The thought drove Wei to quit his job again. This time, he insisted on the public good undertaking, and will never change.

In April 2006, Wei set up the Dishui association with two friends. Dishui, literally means "water drops," suggesting every small deed, like water, can contribute to a great overall deed.

From a trio based at Anji County, Zhejiang Province, the charity now has branches in Zhejiang, Sichuan, Qinghai, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Each branch has a head and hundreds of volunteers, while Wei is the chief head.

The group has no headquarters, but Wei is based in Hangzhou. Currently, he works for Zhejiang Charity Foundation as a director as well.

In the past, Dishui has called upon innumerable donations, helped more than 6,000 children to be "paired with an adult," contributed money and materials to 50,000 people as well as 170 schools - the total amount is uncountable, but after the devastating earthquake hit Sichuan in 2008, they delivered materials worth 20 million yuan (US$3.05 million).

"Dishui works so well because I run the charity full-time," says Wei.

Are there any earnings from running a non-governmental organization full-time? Of course not. From 2006 to 2008, Wei spent all his savings on running the association and helping others.

At the end of 2008 when he was employed as a director of Zhejiang Charity Foundation, he was eventually able to get paid each month.

Quite a lot of people including his family members and friends viewed him as "stupid," while he admits "You couldn't make a thing well unless you are 'stupid'."

Charity's origin

The trio started the charity by calling upon Hangzhou people to pair girl dropouts in Anji and help them return to school. Gradually, the number of volunteers as well as donors expanded, while its range of causes to aid got wider.

In 2007, a charity performance for an Anji girl suffering a brain tumor was a milestone for the association.

When the girl turned to Dishui, there were only seven days for her to have surgery costing 50,000 yuan, which she couldn't afford at all.

So pressed as the time was, the volunteer group intended to raise money by giving a performance on a square in Anji's downtown.

And in one week, they recruited more members, invited volunteer performers, rented the square, arranged the stage and contacted local media. Unexpectedly, the show was so smashing that they received donations of more than 30,000 yuan.

"People holding money flooded to the donation box, and we found the box was too small!" says Wei.

"The surgery took seven hours. I remember, when the kid was out of the operation room, she remained in a coma and couldn't move or talk, but I saw she showed us a 'V' (victory sign)," Wei recalls. "Suddenly, I felt at ease. All of the hardness went away."

At the beginning of 2008, due to a netizen's introduction, the group extended their helping hands to Jiangxiping Primary School in Guanling Bouyei and Miao Minorities Autonomous County in Guizhou Province.

Their contributions include delivering materials and sending long-term volunteer teachers to the school.

"Children there are without enough to eat and wear, let alone to go to school," says Zhou Wei, one of the trio who is also the head of Dishui Hangzhou Station.

"Once a volunteer teacher brought them a cake," Zhou says. "We anticipated that they had not seen a cake before, but we didn't expect they even had no concept of 'birthday' and why people celebrate birthday."

"Previously, most kids did not have lunch while at school because of the poverty," says Zhou Xuan, the head of Dishui Guizhou Station. "So we built a canteen offering free lunches this year, which works unexpectedly well, because local parents would love to send their children to school for the free meal."

Supporting operations, raising contributions and dealing with emergencies one after another have prepared the volunteers, so that when the Sichuan earthquake happened in May 2008, the group could reach the stricken area and provide rapid relief.

It was a nationwide operation. The association concentrated on helping children in Sichuan and attracted contributions from everywhere in the country.

The total contributions were worth about 20 million yuan, among which 10 million yuan was to pair children with adults, and another share was for children's books, clothes and stationery.

The association also set up the first portable dwelling school in Sichuan and equipped it with floor fans, which was later imitated by other charities and the government. It also sent teachers and psychologists to local schools.

Unceasingly, Dishui helped and stayed in the stricken area for more than a year.

"Local people respected and appreciated us," says Wei. "Several times, people I didn't know ran into me and slipped me stuff. Once an unkempt man slipped me a package wrapped in newspaper and immediately ran away before I saw his face. I opened it and it was a preserved pig tail, which is a fancy local cuisine. I don't know how he got it after the earthquake."

For five years, good deeds done by Dishui have also involved maintaining traffic order, caring for elderly citizens and disadvantaged groups, and even protecting minorities' culture.

Every Dishui station holds an activity once a week on average. "Frequent activities enliven the volunteers and the association," says Wei.

Next Wednesday, Wei will be in Beijing to attend the 2010 Public Welfare China Grand Ceremony and take the title of "Best NGO" awarded by the Public Welfare China Commission.

"Dishui acts as the supplement of governmental functions. We will keep on doing small good deeds and real work, to influence more people and have them participate in the cause of the public good - that's what I will say at the ceremony," reveals Wei.