It is a great thing to help others. First, you can learn new things. Second, it can also make you feel good.

How can you do it? Helping through charities(慈善团体) is a good idea. Charities are organizations(组织) that help others . September 5th is the International Day of Charity.

You can help charities by giving your time, giving money or giving things you own.

·Volunteering

Volunteering is to give time to help others without pay. Some ways of volunteering are:

☆visiting old people to talk to them or help them.

☆walking dogs at an animal shelter(收容所) .

☆cleaning up a park.

☆helping some children. You can teach the children without life skills how to take care of themselves.

·Fund-raising

Fund-raising is to collect or produce money to a charity to help others. Some ways of fund raising are:

☆making cakes or biscuits to sell.

☆doing sponsored(有赞助的) activities . For example, families and friends give you money if you finish a long walk.

·Donating

Donating is to give your things to a charity to help others. Some ways of donating are:

☆giving away old toys and books to poor children to cheer them up.

☆giving your old books to a library. So, what can you do to help others?

I dreamed of getting the present from Father Christmas before my seventh Christmas until my elder sister said to me, “There is no Father Christmas.”

I ran to my grandmother’s house, for she always told the truth. I told her everything. “Don’t believe it. Let’s go to Kirby’s Store.” said grandma.

At the door of Kirby’s Store, grandma handed me some dollars and said, “Buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned back to her car. For a few seconds I just stood there, holding the money, thinking what to buy and whom to buy it for. I thought of Hector Debar, a boy with dirty hair. He sat right behind me in Mr. Green’s class.

Hector never went to any classes during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but we all knew he didn’t have a cough. In fact, he didn’t have a coat. I decided to buy Hector a warm coat.

That evening, grandma drove me over to Hector’s home, telling me that Father Christmas never let people know that he once helped them.

That night, when I saw Hector’s home’s front door open and there stood Hector in the dark, I realized that Father Christmas was there with us.

Zhang Guimei, the principal of Huaping High School for Girls, has been given the title “Role Model of the Times” for helping girls from poor families. Here is the moving story of Ms. Zhang.

Zhang moved to Lijiang at the age of 17 to teach in the middle school in Huaping County. Once, she got badly ill but had no money for the treatment (治疗). With the help of the people there, she was able to get the treatment. “From then on, I told myself that I must do something for those people who helped me”, Zhang said.

Slowly, a dream of setting up a free high school for girls in Huaping County appeared in Zhang’s heart. From the year of 2002, she began a six-year journey to look for funds (资金). In 2008, Zhang finally set up Huaping High School for Girls at the foot of the Shizi Mountain in Huaping. The school was the first high school in the country to provide free education for girls who have been unable to continue their studies after completing their nine years of education.

Thanks to her efforts, more than 1,800 girls from poor families have entered universities through her education until now. Zhang has been helping to improve the area as a whole. Influenced by her, many of her students have chosen to teach in poor areas. Now, with Zhang having got the honorary title, the education for girls from poor areas will receive more attention.