James Michener, a famous American writer donated at least 90 percent of what he made from his 43 novels. He seemed to donate more than this. At his death, in October 1997, he had given away US $117 million.

Michener made a good example, not just in how much he gave, but in his style of giving. The writer worked hard at doing good. He usually followed up his donations to see how the money was used and he had a lot of fun in doing so.

Michener was born in 1907. When he died, he was the only writer on the list of America’s top 25 philanthropists (慈善家). Michener gave US$72 million to the college he went to. He said, “I am from a family without any money, but Swarthmore made me from darkness into light. My college life there gave me a new life. I had to do something for it.”

Michener got married three times, but he had no children. For his last 15 years, he lived quietly in Austin, Texas. He moved there to write the 1,000-page novel. The film called South Pacific was inspired (使产生灵感) by his first book, Tales of the South Pacific, written when he was 40.

Bob Butler lost his legs in 1965 in Vietnam. Later he returned to the USA and began his life in wheelchair (轮椅). One day he was working in his yard when he heard a woman calling for help. He began moving towards the woman’s house, but something on the ground stopped his wheelchair going through the back door. So he got out of his wheelchair and started to crawl (爬行).

When Butler got through the back door of the house, he found there was a little girl in the pool. She had no arms and couldn’t swim. Her mother was calling for help crazily. Butler got into the pool and pulled the little girl out of the water. Her face was blue, and she was not breathing.

Butler did CPR (心肺复苏术) on her right away. As Butler continued doing CPR, he talked to the mother. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’ll be OK. I was her arms to get out of the pool. I am now her lungs. Together we can make it.”

Soon the little girl coughed and began to cry. The mother asked Butler how he knew it would be OK. “I didn’t know,” he told her. “But when my legs were blown off (炸掉) in the war, a little girl in Vietnam said to me in broken English, ‘It’ll be OK. You will live. I’ll be your legs. Together we make it.’ Her kind words brought hope to me and I wanted to do the same for your little girl.”

A concert under the theme of the 28-year-old charity song Let the World Be Filled with Love is set to bring 100 celebrated singers to perform in Quanzhou in southeast China’s Fujian Province next month. The concert is set to cover 10 cities including Beijing. Quanzhou is the first stop of the touring schedule.

The song Let the World Be Filled with Love was written by famous Chinese singer and songwriter Guo Feng in 1986. It was performed by a chorus (合唱团) of 100 singers during a concert for world peace that year. The song also made Guo Feng famous.

The concert is organized by China TV Artists Association. It aims to improve local charity programmes. The concert has so far received positive feedback (爱的回应) from some of the biggest names from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, including Hollywood actor Jackie Chan.

It is well known that Jackie Chan has made great contributions to the music scene for years with songs like A Hero Never Dies and Don’t Go Home. He sang the theme song to the film Fairy Tale with Kim Hee Sun. Between shooting (拍摄) films and joining in public activities all over the world, it took Chan about a year to finish an album.

By joining in charity activities, Jackie Chan has provided scholarships for needy students and helped injured performers and their families. So far, he has been involved in over 100 public welfare (救济) projects in 52 cities in over 30 countries.

   Do you know when and how the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) started?

In 1859, during the war time, a Swiss man named Henry Dunant passed a town in Italy where many soldiers had been wounded. Dunant thought they should be cared for. A Swiss organization was founded (成立) in 1863. When the organization became international, it was named the International Committee of the Red Cross.

ICRC’s emblem (符号) is a red cross on a white ground. People use it as a sign for army doctors. There are ICRC offices in many countries around the world now. 12,000 ICRC workers are helping people in more than 80 countries.

In China, there is an organization named the China Red Cross Society (CRCS). It is part of ICRC. It started in 1904, and this year is CRCS’s 110th anniversary (周年纪念日).

Most of the people in CRCS are either full-time workers or volunteers. CRCS also has organizations in many schools. Student members learn to look up to the elderly and to help the weak. They are also taught to give medical care to people who are in danger.