Lin Aju is visually impaired and will turn 100 next month. So her family and friends must be preparing to celebrate her birthday.
They were. But Grandma Lin told them to cancel the family banquet, and instead donated 10,000 yuan ($1,429) to the quake victims in Sichuan.
Lin is a resident of Xiepu town in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. And her family members had planned to organize a party that would have cost 7,000 yuan to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Though she lives thousands of kilometers away from the quake-hit areas and cannot read the reports or see the tragic photographs coming out of the region, she can still feel the pain and suffering of the victims.
She is the matriarch of five generations but she is still healthy, except for the problem with her eyes, and clear-minded.
She has three sons, aged 79, 77 and 62, and a 73-year-old daughter. "It's not easy for all the 50 family members and relatives to gather for a celebration," said her youngest son Liu Weigao.
Lin's husband died long ago, and she lives with her youngest son. Her three other children and some of her grandchildren, who work in other cities, had come home for the big family gathering.
But Lin would have none of it. She donated the 7,000 yuan, plus another 3,000 yuan that she had saved, to Zhenhai district department of civil affairs.
"After coming to know what happened in Sichuan, I decided not to have this birthday party so the money could be used to help the quake victims," Lin said.
"My mother seldom buys new clothes," Liu said. "The one she's wearing right now was made 10 years ago. She has been trying to save every single penny she gets."
"We are moved ... the money may not mean a lot to others, but it is the most valuable donation we have received," Liu Weiping, a Zhenhai district community official, said.
"When we asked what birthday gift she wanted, she told us only to click her photo," said Liu Fangfang, a district civil affairs official.
The bureau has given her a certificate for the love and kindness she has shown for the quake victims.
"Xiepu's residents have done an excellent job helping the quake victims by donating money, blood and relief materials. And perhaps the greatest donor of them all is Grandma Lin," said Zhang Jingyu, a local reporter.
（英语点津 Helen 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Jonathan Stewart is a media and journalism expert from the United States with four years of experience as a writer and instructor. He accepted a foreign expert position with chinadaily.com.cn in June 2007 following the completion of his Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Comparative Politics.
