Top: New shoes call for freshly washed feet. Children in Sichuan province try on some of the 5,000 pairs of shoes provided by Dishui Public Welfare Association. The donation is one example of work provided by grassroots nongovernmental organizations.

Left: Volunteers from Dishui association help a woman walk to the courtyard at an old people's home in Anji, Zhejiang.

Above: Xu Zhengjun's message is, "I want more attention for charity people from society." Xu runs an NGO in Kunming that helps other NGOs with professional training. He took the grassroots job (and a 40 percent pay cut) at the start of this year, after having worked at a Hong Kong foundation. Photos Provided to China Daily