Popular volunteer cases promoted at Xuhui forum
Volunteers from all ages and all walks of life introduce their practices at the Shijianhui Forum in Xuhui.
Volunteer services have been widely promoted in old communities in Shanghai’s downtown area to help solve various problems and improve social governance.
Over 300,000 people in Xuhui District have become registered volunteers, accounting for 28.2 percent of its total population. Retired cadres, community workers and citizens have established over 500 volunteer teams to offer specialized services and promote civilization.
Several successful practices were promoted at a public forum on Tuesday to encourage more volunteer services at community level.
The Leshan Community, an old neighborhood beside the under-construction Xujiahui Center, the future top skyscraper in Puxi, has developed 49 teams taking charge of elevator installation, public space renewal and environment improvement.
The number of volunteers in the neighborhood has increased to 4,660 from 156 in 2018, helping to reduce the number of complaints by 71.8 percent and criminal cases by 61.7 percent.
The practice was introduced at the Shijianhui, which literally means “practices gathering,” which are held regularly at the Xuhui District Hui Exhibition Hall. The site was renovated from the historic Catholic Major Seminary.
The forum invites experts, community workers, volunteers and residents to share their experience and practices related to volunteer services.
Six public lectures will be held both offline and online to introduce 25 volunteer and community services cases across Xuhui.
Xuhui volunteers from all walks of life
Another old community in the Lingyun Subdistrict has created a number of public spaces such as the “Neighborhood Homes,” “Cloud Sitting-room” and “Pocket Parks” to host regular volunteer activities.
The Fenglin community has turned the neighborhood committee into volunteer service providers.
Residents are encouraged to take part in promoting the city’s garbage sorting, elevator installation and neighborhood renovation campaigns.
At the Huali Apartment Building in the Tianlin Subdistrict, 28 garbage rooms on each floor have been converted to “public welfare cabins” for residents to offer volunteer services.
After the lectures end, the projects will be exhibited at “civilization practice centers” across Xuhui. An expert panel including professors has been appointed to give suggestions about volunteer projects.
“Citizens are always the main body of community construction. They should be encouraged to drive the construction of the people-oriented city with such civilization practices,” said Zhu Lianggao, vice president of the Party School of the CPC Shanghai Committee.
