There is a heat that makes a light. As fireflies can also give off a little light in the dark without waiting for the torch.
— From “Hot Wind: Thoughts Forty-one” by Lu Xun
Common interests and shared topics bring many people together, forming groups of all sizes. Car enthusiasts’ clubs are one of them.
This time, let’s not talk about cars, but about positive energy from car enthusiasts’ clubs during the epidemic period – donations to Wuhan, and some experience sharing during the donation process.
I have also thought that there are many donation activities, which cannot be written completely, but why still write about them?
This is because, before chatting with people in car enthusiasts’ clubs, I always thought that donations were quite simple, involving only a few steps such as raising funds, purchasing supplies, and delivering them to donation recipients. But after understanding it, I found that things are not that simple.
Next, I will take you to understand how they did it.
Tesla Lady Club’s Two-pronged Approach
“As long as the thing is right and one can do it with a clear conscience, it is worth doing.”
During the interview, Coco, the owner of TLC (Tesla Lady Club), told me this.
Initiating the Donation
TLC is a group of female Tesla car enthusiasts in Beijing.
Around 10 pm on New Year’s Eve (January 24), everyone was watching the Spring Festival Gala when suddenly there was an uproar in the TLC group.
The reason was that they saw the news about Wuhan’s urgent shortage of supplies.
According to Coco, “After sending out the information, everyone said that they did not have the mind to watch the Spring Festival Gala, and could not even laugh at the skits. Then, some car friends sent me private messages and asked if we could make a donation.”
Seeing everyone so enthusiastic, Coco decided to immediately verify the authenticity of the news.
She asked relatives working at a hospital in Wuhan, “I verified with them, briefly mentioned the process, and then they gave me feedback and roughly discussed the overall situation. The conclusion was that the news was true,” Coco said so.
After confirming the authenticity of the news, she began to initiate a fundraising activity in the group. According to her, everyone responded very quickly to this donation, and basically donated at least 500 yuan. The car friends were very supportive of this.
Here, we need to mention another car friend group – the Tesla TΞSLA Owners’ Group.
Hengquan (hereinafter referred to as Mr. H) is the owner of the Tesla TΞSLA Owners’ Group and is also Coco’s friend. After seeing the news, Mr. H also planned to make a donation.On January 25th, after learning that TLC had launched a donation campaign, Mr. H discussed with Coco and decided to join in. According to Mr. H, most of the members in the chat group were supportive and he began to organize everyone to donate.
(From a screenshot of H’s chat)
Difficulties at the beginning
The donation was not as smooth as expected. Although most people could empathize, only a few doubted the purpose of the donation. According to Coco, the doubts raised by Mr. H’s supporters can be summed up in two points:
First, some people thought that the donation was driven by personal interest and was intended to make the organizer famous or for other unspecified purposes.
Second, some people didn’t believe that the information was true and thought that it was just a publicity stunt. They believed that hospitals did not lack supplies and that the problem would be solved in a few days anyway.
Coco said, “They think that the country will solve the problem of masks soon and that it’s not our turn to get involved. Our efforts are insignificant. They are optimistic and don’t think that what we are doing will really help the medical staff.”
In fact, the support from the national government can only reach the places where the disaster is more severe, and it is difficult to provide assistance to other areas. For example, the hospital we donated to in Huanggang was in desperate need of supplies.”
Therefore, she believed that delivering supplies as soon as possible would be of great help to the hospitals. For medical staff, in addition to material assistance, there would also be some emotional comfort. Because there might be some minor issues between doctors and patients, making doctors feel sad. Through this donation in Wuhan, they can also feel the love from the society.
In summary, she believed that sometimes we may think that donating is easy when we see others do it. But when we do it ourselves, we will face many difficulties. “Execution is not a problem, as long as we take steps to solve the problem. But sometimes there will be many doubt voices, and it is difficult for us to be determined to do this.” Coco said.
She also said, “I think as long as the cause is right and we have a clear conscience, it is worth doing it. Those who want to do charity work sincerely need to be determined and honest, so that they can face all kinds of comments frankly.”And in response to the doubts from the car enthusiasts, Mr. H said, “We will explain, but if they still think the same way, there is nothing we can do, because someone has to do certain things.”
Coco during pregnancy
At the beginning of the donation, Coco said that she would be very busy. “At the beginning, I was very busy. Mr. H hadn’t joined yet, and it was quite difficult for me to initiate this matter alone. And I was pregnant, and my baby was about to be born.”
After Mr. H joined, everyone started to organize and the division of labor became clearer.
“Everyone was very considerate of me, and they didn’t let me do anything. Doing this thing was very hard for everyone. At two or three o’clock in the morning, I saw everyone discussing the donation in the group.” Coco’s words were full of emotions when she told me this.
Because they had to verify the quality of materials, logistics, and other issues. And at that time, they were coordinating with more than a dozen suppliers, which needed to be checked one by one.
After confirming the quality of the materials, they still needed to confirm with the hospital whether the model of the materials met the hospital’s standards. So there were many things that needed to be implemented, which were very troublesome.
“There was originally no return for this matter, but everyone was so enthusiastic. I am really touched,” Coco said.
In addition, she also told me that there are more than 300 people in their group, and more than 100 people donated money. Compared with previous donation activities, the amount of this donation is the largest.
(From the TLC car enthusiasts’ chat screenshot)
“We have never done such a big thing before. Previous donations were small, and we would help some orphans and donate items related to life and study.”
Seeing that everyone responded so quickly, and basically donated around 500 yuan, she really didn’t know what to say.
Donating materials, not money
While the car enthusiasts on both sides were donating money, Mr. H was also sourcing suppliers and contacting logistics.
As to why they chose to donate materials instead of money, Mr. H said, “Actually, there is no shortage of money now. Wuhan Charity Federation and similar organizations receive donations. But we have also noticed that some organizations seem to have not allocated donations reasonably, so we chose to donate materials directly.”
According to him, it was relatively easy to purchase materials at that time, and the country had not yet officially taken over the civilian mask factories, so it was easier to purchase materials. But now that the country has taken over, it is much more difficult.
He has some tips about material donation that he wants to tell everyone.“`
“During that time, we also saw a lot of news saying that the donated supplies to hospitals were not usable and did not meet medical standards. Therefore, after finding a supplier, we would provide relevant qualification certificates and product pictures so that our team can contact the hospital and confirm if the supplies meet the standards and can be used before purchasing them.”
(Chat screenshot of hospital sign-off)
Difficulties Except for Doubts
Apart from the initial difficulties, Mr. H said it was also relatively difficult to find suppliers for the supplies, as it was mainly through his friends’ introduction or other methods.
Besides, Mr. H had never been involved in donation before and did not know if the channel was reliable, which posed a great risk. They searched for more than ten suppliers, and eventually only one or two of them were confirmed.
Moreover, the outbreak happened during the Spring Festival, when most workers in the mask factories had gone home for the holidays with no interest in working overtime, and none wished to gather in crowded places. As a result, it was tough to find channels, and there were not many manufacturers with goods.
Mr. H said, “When we were looking for a supply channel, we also searched for imports from South Korea, the United States, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, etc. But in the end, none of these channels were used.
The main reason is that the cycle in-between is relatively long, and the supplies need to be shipped from overseas and then circulated, which is slower. So in the end, they still found domestic factories.”
Despite the difficulties, Mr. H felt grateful for the factories’ cooperation.
“The domestic manufacturer we found also recognizes the support for Wuhan. During that period, they would not sell supplies individually, mainly through Wuhan donation channels. If someone contacted them and said they wanted to donate to Wuhan’s hospitals, they would prioritize the order. We are truly grateful for their assistance.”
Finally, the issue of logistics. Mr. H said, “Due to the holiday season, many logistics were stopped or there were many rumors that logistics could not enter, so logistics were relatively difficult during that period.”
(Supply logistics screenshot)
It’s a Donation, Not a Trouble
There was also a small story in the donation. Coco told me, “I posted a picture of someone else’s hospital donation sign-off certificate in the group, probably to solicit everyone’s opinions on whether we should also issue a certificate to the public, to make it more transparent.
“`But everyone was a little angry right away, saying that we donated to help others, not to trouble medical staff. With this public seal being held down, the process had to be gone through again, the hospital would charge you something, and you would have to go back and forth.
(Chat screenshot of Coco)
In addition, the buddies in Coco’s group also said, “Don’t our car friends trust us? Do we have to take a picture with a public seal to make them trust us?”
Finally, Coco told me something very touching. She said, “The most fundamental meaning of our TLC’s existence is to lead everyone to do something related to environmental protection and charity. In fact, it cannot be called superstition, it should be called cause and effect. We all want to do things that are as good as possible and useful to this world. It is precisely this kind of love that brings everyone together.”
Donation details:
Fundraising total: 123,000 yuan
This time, Tesla Lady Club and Tesla TΞSLA owners group raised a total of 116,594 RMB, most of which was raised by TLC. Mr. H’s car friends’ association raised more than 20,000 yuan, and the supplier channel was basically provided by the Tesla TΞSLA owners group.
Actual cost of materials: 123,000 yuan. The excess has been paid for by Coco, other TLC organizers and suppliers.
Materials purchased: 1,000 3M N95 masks, 30,000 surgical masks, 500 protective suits.
In addition, some materials are still in preparation and are currently being actively promoted.
NIO Carbon Fan Club
“Doing good deeds is easy, but it is difficult to do it well. Every hospital is lacking. If you can help even one hospital, it is a good deed. Our goal is to find a way to help every hospital, with the urgent ones first.”
This sentence is from the president of the NIO Carbon Fan Club – Battery Not Fat.
Initiation of donation:
Initially, the Carbon Fan Club launched the fundraising on New Year’s Eve (January 24). At the time of the countdown to the New Year, Battery Not Fat saw an article titled “Crisis! 18 Major Hospitals in Wuhan Request Assistance for Medical Supplies”, but he was skeptical about how serious it was.
(A screenshot of Carbon Powder group chat record)
“I saw an article and specifically called the hospital, and also asked many friends in Wuhan to learn that Wuhan is indeed under great pressure, then the donation started,” said Battery Not Fat.
According to Battery Not Fat, the self-cohesion of carbon powder group is very high, and everyone responded positively.
“Although we are from all over the country, the activity level and the number of people attending gatherings are very considerable. At that time, everyone was watching the Spring Festival Gala, but after the donation started, we received nearly 40,000 yuan in donations in about an hour,” Battery Not Fat proudly told me.
As of 4 pm on February 6th, the Carbon Powder Club has received a total of ¥682,916.31 in donations (with 200,000 yuan donated by NIO Users Fund), and it took two weeks to raise the funds.
This includes a donation of ¥21,500 from Wuxi Xinui Association, ¥17,300 from Aiyu Wei Jiangyin Car Club, ¥11,838 from Macau Car Club, ¥21,933.31 from Hebei Guoji Wei Car Club, and ¥9,400 from Hebei Baoding Car Club.
Another carbon powder supporter “Yingying Babba” also donated ¥120,000 to purchase the one-time purchase of isolation suit supplies.
(Materials donated by Carbon Powder Club)
As for why so many people donated, Battery Not Fat said, “mainly because the transparency of carbon powder supporters is high, and everything is public. The purchase price, the shipping location, the receiving location, the receiving letter, and the donation details are accurately publicized. All of these are organized by the working group organized by the carbon powder supporters. Even NIO employees and executives made personal donations, and every day’s changes increase the trust between us.”
When I asked Battery Not Fat why carbon powder supporters trust him so much, he jokingly said, “We are more straightforward, all iron men, right?”
Unlike Mr. H’s car club above, Battery Not Fat said there were no carbon powder supporters with opposing views.
“I didn’t see any carbon powder supporters holding opposing views, and there were no questions. They were all thinking about how to make donations meaningful,” Battery Not Fat said.
At the same time as the donation was made, the Carbon Powder Club also identified several principles that must be adhered to:
- Quality first, and it must meet medical standards.
- The purchase channel must be reliable.
- The price must be reasonable.- Material must be delivered to those who really need it
After summarizing the experience, Carbon Powder Club believes that procurement is the most important and the most strictly controlled part.
Battery No Fat said, “Especially after various news reports have been exposed, people will find that many materials that do not meet medical standards have arrived in Wuhan, and they have not brought positive effects. Many materials have not reached those who really need them.”
(Distribution volunteers)
Therefore, the Carbon Powder Club is clear: channels must be opened up and must be directly connected to the person in charge of the rescue team or receiving hospital to ensure that materials reach those who really need them in a timely manner.
“For each source of goods we connect to, we will strictly trace the source of the product, verify the background of the other party, ensure that it is a genuine product, and ensure the credibility of the purchasing channels and dealers.” Battery No Fat said.
How to achieve efficient donation
When asked why the Carbon Powder Club was able to efficiently complete this donation activity, Battery No Fat said:
The following is Battery No Fat’s description.
The reason why Carbon Powder was able to donate medical gloves in the millions, masks in the hundreds of thousands, and protective clothing in the tens of thousands was because we adopted staggered procurement.
When everyone was rushing to buy masks, we went to purchase medical gloves. When everyone was rushing to buy protective clothing, we purchased masks. When everyone was rushing to buy ordinary masks, we purchased protective clothing and isolation clothing. Therefore, this time we were able to flexibly and efficiently use every penny of funds under limited funds.
There is a unified core working group for this donation activity, consisting of the main personnel of the activity, professionals in the chemical industry, professionals in the medical product production industry, professionals in the financial industry, professionals in the transportation industry, etc. The working group facilitates the quick exchange and judgment of information and emergencies.
Then there are finance teams, hospital information verification teams, German procurement teams, Thai procurement teams, British procurement teams, and Indian procurement teams.
Among them, a small number of members overlap to facilitate information exchange and review, and to reduce the invalid information explosion of the working group. In these organizations, there are protective clothing groups, mask groups, miscellaneous groups, and they connect with local car club groups and equipment groups.
The specialized teams of vertical management facilitate quick price comparison, cost accounting, and efficient use of funds.
There is a funny group called the Debtors Group, which accounts for the amount of money that employees have been advanced every night. For a certain amount of money, everyone plays to their strengths and flexibly handles it without the need for summary and unification.## Translation
There is a material distribution team responsible for preparing the dispatch list according to the budget for the materials that have arrived in Wuhan. The dispatch team will make adjustments according to the changes in the situation at the scene and the recipient. The data collection team will check the receipts for the dispatched goods, or collect the receipts for the urgently dispatched materials in case of emergency.
(volunteer dispatch team)
Finally, the transportation team coordinates the transportation of the materials, including the order of the country, the transport capacity of CITIC Express from Shanghai South Station, and the pricing, account, pick-up and delivery of materials purchased internationally by FedEx.
(receipts for donated items from Carbon Powder Club)
The lack of materials is more severe in the outskirts of Wuhan
Many people don’t know what’s really happening on the front lines. That’s why some volunteers would rather take the risk of infection to deliver the goods. They are truly admirable.
In fact, Wuhan is not the place where materials are most needed, but it’s the outskirts that are really in short supply. Most of the key materials are supplied to a few core hospitals in Hubei, and many doctors in other peripheral hospitals are facing a shortage of materials.
The surrounding cities have no supplies at all. The purchasing standards for materials have been lowered, and even medical materials are in short supply worldwide, so we have to buy materials that meet industrial standards instead. Some clothing factories are now converting their production lines to produce industrial standard protective suits.
We are now providing industrial standard support, which is much better than nothing. The doctors and nurses on the front lines are risking their lives, so we must do something to help.
(hospital supported by Carbon Powder Club’s donations)
The materials are sold out in China, so we have to buy them from abroad. However, we found that many countries have also sold out, and many have imposed restrictions on purchases. We ask our carbon powder agents overseas to make the purchases, and then we transport them slowly, hundreds of items at a time.
Memorable events
During this period, there were many memorable events. Each of our volunteers worked more than 15 hours a day, busier than their regular work, but they enjoyed it. Several of our volunteers from Shanghai purchased the materials and carried them themselves, transporting the materials to the train station.During the donation campaign, Leo, a founder of ZOOM and an employee there, worked with the boss of Carbon Powder at a meeting, and under the assistance of Carbon Powder’s LEO, ZOOM decided to provide free online video conferencing services without a time limit to Chinese people until the end of the pandemic prevention and control.
Currently, more than 300,000 people have used ZOOM for free at home, and as a result, ZOOM has added a lot of server and bandwidth resources, with directly invested funds worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, as well as expected investments and returns worth millions of yuan. It can be said that we are very grateful.
In addition, there have been many donations from Tesla car enthusiasts, with one donating 10,000 yuan, and other similar acts of kindness.
There are also the ladies from Carbon Powder who are very supportive in terms of love and are willing to volunteer. Originally, the hardcore members of Carbon Powder were all gay, and I had to scream at them in the group to get them to do it.
Later, we set up a donation group to facilitate Carbon Powder members to see our donation progress. There are several ladies in the group who were very active when I asked for volunteers, and they each worked for more than ten hours.
They are responsible for accounting, contact with hospitals, and part of the procurement. Because they were purchasing industrial-grade products, they had to take the information to the hospital to see if it was suitable, so as to avoid doing anything harmful to anyone.
To be able to do all of this in such an environment, there is really nothing more to say than “gratitude.”
The Diamond Car Enthusiasts Club covers multiple brands, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Land Rover, among others. While the brands may differ, the members all have the same desire to benefit society.
段誉, the initiator of the donation, recalls the most memorable moment of the donation campaign: “He stopped our car with a few cucumbers he had grown himself, and then handed them to me.” Although the gift was light, it demonstrated the warmth of the human heart. During the Wuhan donation campaign, the Diamond Car Enthusiasts Club went to a village in Huanggang to donate supplies. When they arrived, the occupant of one house was absent, so they left the supplies at the doorstep. Later, when the occupant returned, they stopped the Diamond Car Enthusiasts Club’s car and gave them a few cucumbers, which was very touching.
Of the five groups that make up the Diamond Car Enthusiasts Club, one is dedicated to public welfare and organizes activities every month.We not only participated in the Wuhan support activities, but also regularly carry out public welfare activities for low-income users, households, and students in difficulties, providing them with necessities such as rice, oil, and other daily necessities.
(Diamond Car Friends Club Charity Group Photo)
Whenever money is needed for activities, we will initiate a “donation relay activity” in the group. Everyone is voluntary and there is no moral coercion, which is crucial!
When the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, due to limited personnel for distributing materials, some people approached us and asked us to transport materials, and then we joined in. Our volunteer car team has more than 100 people and we have delivered materials to many hospitals in Wuhan.
We are completely voluntary. Each member of the car friends club has their own job and career, and everyone participates in these activities in their spare time. We make all purchases open to everyone who participates, and the collected donations are generally managed by me.
As for the source of materials, we mainly seek channels through our own social relations or cooperate with other foundations and non-governmental organizations. We integrate the funds, and then hand them over to them to be responsible for producing or purchasing materials. Finally, our car friends club is responsible for transportation.
Of course, organizing such activities will also encounter difficulties. Some people may think that we are doing business and suspect that we are making money from these activities. Also, we need to prepare for regularly eating instant noodles.
(Diamond Car Friends Club Members)
Sharing Experience of Public Welfare Activities
If you want to organize such activities, the key is to choose a reliable team leader. Before the activity, everyone should list the things that need to be done and make sure everything is in place before starting the work. This way, things won’t get out of control.
The organizers must have a loving heart when doing things. When inviting others to join, it must be voluntary, without any moral coercion, which really matters! It is also necessary to remind everyone to do what is in their power and not to do things that are beyond their capacity.
During the activities, the team leader should keep in touch with everyone at all times.
For example, when our car friends club sets off, there are many cars, and everyone’s driving habits are different. Therefore, before setting off, navigation locations, where to park and rest, and how to deal with emergencies should be planned in advance. The team leader should promptly handle any emergency that arises to ensure that the activity is not affected.To ensure that the donation targets are clear, it is important to investigate their situations first. For example, for elderly people or families in need, it would be more practical to send supplies such as rice and cooking oil, as they may encounter problems with purchasing and transportation if given money.
(Diamond Car Club Public Welfare during the epidemic)
Most places now use mobile payment, but many elderly people do not understand how to use it and often encounter difficulties. Compared with giving money, supplies are more practical and efficient.
For donation activities like the one in Wuhan, people were aware of the insufficient supply of materials, but knew little about which specific materials were needed – such as which factories in China produce N95 masks and whether the suppliers have the qualification to produce such supplies. Most people simply purchase supplies online and send them to the address provided, thinking that their donations are done.
This is a misunderstanding: we strongly recommend contacting specific hospitals first to determine their actual needs, preferably including product models and daily consumption. Doing so can greatly improve the efficiency of donation activities.
Epilogue
Donation is a commonplace thing in our lives, but that does not make it insignificant. Donators also face many challenges beyond just providing financial and material support, including risk, negative comments and physical exhaustion.
The starting point for all of this, as car owner Duan Yu said, is having a loving heart.
Though one loving heart is small, when many such hearts come together, they become the hope of society and of each generation.
Therefore, I hope that the positive, energetic stories of car clubs and their members can influence more people.
If you have stories to share about donation and charity, please contact me at my WeChat account, YY8866776.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.